The comparison may indicate how much the US crypto derivatives market could change in the coming years. While spot bitcoin ETFs opened the door for traditional investors to gain exposure to bitcoin through brokerage accounts, regulated perpetual futures could give retail and institutional traders access to one of the most popular cryptocurrency trading instruments without needing to use offshore venues.
Prediction market platform Kalshi, which launched perpetual futures in the United States last week, said Wednesday that it has already surpassed $1 billion in trading volume.
Palmer argued that one of the reasons perpetual futures were so successful outside the United States is their simplicity. Unlike dated futures, which require traders to manage contract expirations and renewals, criminals allow positions to remain open indefinitely.
“I think it’s a simple derivative structure compared to some of the nuances of trading dated futures,” he said. “If I buy a June [future]then it expires, and if I want to keep my position, I have to roll it.”
Kraken believes that removing those complexities (and eventually allowing cryptoassets to be used as collateral) could help bring U.S. traders closer to the expertise available in international markets, he said.
For now, the company sees the launch of regulated offenders as just the beginning. Even though crypto derivatives generate trillions of dollars in annual volume globally, Palmer said the US market is still in its early stages.
