Kraken's parent company, Payward, has completed its acquisition of Bitnomial, officially entering the US cryptocurrency derivatives market.

Payward (Kraken's parent company) announced the completion of its acquisition of Bitnomial, marking its formal acquisition of full regulatory qualifications to offer crypto derivatives services in the United States. Following the transaction, Payward holds a full set of US CFTC-related licenses, including Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), Designated Contract Market (DCM), and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), enabling it to launch compliant derivatives services in the US market. Payward stated that it will begin by gradually launching spot margin trading on Kraken, and plans to subsequently launch perpetual contracts and options products, while expanding its institutional-grade derivatives capabilities through the Bitnomial ecosystem. Bitnomial, a Chicago-based crypto derivatives trading platform, has long held three core CFTC licenses and has been relatively aggressive in listing new assets. After the transaction, Bitnomial will retain its existing licenses and regulatory framework and continue operating within the Payward ecosystem. Furthermore, this acquisition continues Payward's recent expansion efforts: the company previously received a $200 million investment from Deutsche Börse Group and filed IPO-related documents with the US SEC, indicating its accelerated path to global compliant derivatives and capital markets. (The Block)