Kraken Rolls Out 10x Crypto Margin Trading in the US

The exchange announced on 6 May that eligible users can now trade with up to 10x leverage on Kraken Pro, borrowing against their crypto holdings to go long or short.  

Less than a week earlier, Kraken said it had completed the roughly $1.5bn purchase of NinjaTrader. The offering also comes a day after Kraken completed its $550mn acquisition of Bitnomial, a US derivatives exchange and broker.

Kraken handles about $1.3bn in daily spot trading volume and holds a top-tier trust score among exchanges, according to CoinGecko. 

The move comes as margin trading remains largely unavailable on regulated US platforms – though it is a core feature on offshore exchanges. On Gemini, for instance, access to margin trading in the US is typically restricted to users who qualify as Eligible Contract Participants (ECPs). 

How does it work?

The product is being offered through a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated entity dubbed NinjaTrader Clearing. 

Margin trading is limited in the US to protect retail investors from high risk and to meet rules set by regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the CFTC.

On Kraken Pro, users can see liquidation prices, borrowing costs, and available margin before opening a trade. Stop-loss orders are also available around the clock.

The rewards... and risks

Jason Rindahl, CEO of Nebula DeFi, told Sandmark that Kraken’s move could bring meaningful trading activity back to US platforms from offshore exchanges, adding that traders prefer regulated domestic platforms when the tools are competitive.

He also explained that while we're going to see more volume and velocity, the market will likely also incur more speculation, volatility, and risk. 

"Digital assets allow money to move frictionlessly across markets in seconds, and leverage amplifies every move," Rindahl said. "The reality is these markets are increasingly driven by algorithms, liquidity sweeps, and automated trading systems that aggressively target leverage positions... that creates enormous opportunity, but also enormous risk." 

Rindahl warned that high leverage can be especially dangerous for inexperienced users.

"Most leverage traders eventually learn the hard way that these markets are engineered to extract money from emotional participants," he said. "The safest long term strategy for most people is still dollar cost averaging into strong assets and actually owning the underlying asset rather than constantly chasing leverage trades."