Kraken Guns for London’s Institutional Money With New Crypto Derivatives Play

Kraken just fired a shot across the bow of traditional finance—launching a full suite of crypto derivatives for UK institutional clients. Because nothing says ’mature asset class’ like leveraged bets on digital assets, right?

The exchange is rolling out futures and options to ’eligible’ UK clients (read: hedge funds and whales), bypassing the retail crowd entirely. Because when you’re chasing institutional dollars, why bother with the little guys?

This marks Kraken’s first major UK push since securing FSA registration—proving even regulators can’t resist crypto’s siren song when enough compliance boxes get ticked.

Watch out, LSE: The crypto cowboys are coming for your lunch. And this time, they brought paperwork.

• Kraken’s crypto derivatives trading opens to all eligible UK clients.
• FCA-regulated MTF platform enables Kraken’s UK derivatives offering.
• Kraken reports $1.5 billion revenue for 2024, explores public listing.

Kraken, a top crypto exchange, has launched a crypto derivatives trading service in the UK. The service is accessible to professional investors under the regulations of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority(FCA). Kraken’s entry into the UK market marks a major step in the company’s expansion in institutional markets.

The product was initially accessible to select clients before recent expansion. However, Kraken has rolled out the service to all eligible clients who complete the onboarding process. Alexia Theodorou, Kraken’s Head of Derivatives, stressed the company’s dedication to derivatives market expansion across the UK market.

Crypto Derivatives Market Demand

Derivatives account for 70% to 75% of total global crypto trading volume. Kraken has witnessed increased derivative market demand especially from institutional clients. Kraken has decided to launch derivatives trading because of their high growth potential compared to spot trading.

Kraken provides multi-collateral perpetual contracts, which offers low-cost trading options for institutional clients. These products enable clients to use various forms of collateral and leverage to execute complex trading activities such as hedging and market-neutral positions. These products provide professional clients with seamless crypto trading experience.

Kraken faces licensing hurdles despite the increased global interest in crypto derivatives. The exchange has not launched its derivatives products in major markets such as South Korea, U.S and some countries in Europe due to regulatory limitations.  Theodorou states that there are clear regulations for the spot market while the derivatives markets require country-specific licenses.

Kraken’s Market Expansion and Acquisitions

Kraken’s derivatives are available on its Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF), which is operated by Crypto Facilities and regulated by the FCA. In 2019, Kraken acquired Crypto Facilities for more than $100 million. The Bermuda-based MTF platform provides access to Kraken’s futures broker services which provide a regulated environment for derivatives trading.

Kraken recently acquired NinjaTrader, a U.S.-based futures broker, and a MiFID II-regulated entity in Cyprus. These acquisitions could boost Kraken’s derivatives product diversification and market expansion across Europe and the U.S.

Kraken’s focus on crypto derivatives as part of its continuous global market expansion. Kraken, the 13th largest centralized exchange by volume, continues to expand its services. Moreover, the company has added U.S equities trading which enables  clients in select U.S states to trade more than 11,000 stocks and ETFs.

Kraken’s impressive financial performance enhances its market expansion. The company achieved $1.5 billion in revenue in 2024 as it considers going public.