Kraken launches USD-settled BTC and ETH options on Kraken Pro

Kraken introduced USD-settled European-style options on bitcoin and ether Thursday, rolling out the contracts on Kraken Pro as part of a push to expand the crypto options market beyond institutional traders.

"The existing options market in crypto has been built for a narrow slice of the trader base," Alexia Theodorou, director of derivatives at Kraken, said. "Our offering broadens access through a straightforward, dollar-settled contract in the same account clients already use for spot and futures."

The Wyoming-based exchange launched cash-settled options on BTC and ETH initially via request-for-quote, with weekly, monthly, quarterly and semi-annual expirations. Premiums, profit and loss, and settlement are all denominated in US dollars, removing the need to manage crypto collateral. Portfolio margin is enabled by default, and users can post collateral in more than 30 currencies. Minimum order sizes start at 0.01 contracts for BTC/USD and 0.1 for ETH/USD, with tick sizes of $1 and $0.10 respectively. Settlement relies on a 30-minute observation window before 8 UTC.

Crypto options remain a small fraction of overall derivatives trading compared with traditional markets, where options account for a much larger share. Derivatives already drive the vast majority of crypto trading volumes, but options have been dominated by a handful of venues including Deribit, CME Group and Binance. Kraken's contracts are available to eligible international clients outside Europe, North America and Australia, with a European rollout planned for the second half of 2026. Future updates are expected to include a public order book, broader geographic availability and support for additional assets. Bitcoin traded at $64,351 and ether at $1,867 as of Thursday, according to CoinGecko.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.