US Futures 101

Last updated: June 15, 2026

What Are Futures?

Futures are financial contracts to buy or sell an asset at a set date in the future for a fixed price. Futures trading benefits investors by allowing them to offset or assume the risk of a price change of an asset over time.

Futures contracts are available for a variety of markets including commodities, stock indexes, currencies, and more. Different-sized contracts allow traders to participate in these markets with reduced financial commitment.

Kraken Derivatives US futures products include Bitcoin (BTC), Micro Bitcoin (MBT), Ether (ETH), Micro Ether (MET), Solana (GSOL), and Micro Solana (MSL), plus 75 Crypto and TradFi contracts across CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX exchanges: Indices (S&P 500, NASDAQ 100), Commodities (Gold, Oil, Rice, Lumber, Cattle), FX (EUR, GBP, AUD), and more. We also offer 17 perpetual futures contracts on Bitnomial Exchange — including BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and others. See US Perpetual Futures for the full list.

Futures originated in commodity markets, helping buyers and sellers hedge against price changes. For instance, a grain buyer could lock in a future price for wheat to avoid spikes during harvest season. This idea evolved into modern futures, which cover commodities, indexes, interest rates, and digital assets like crypto.

In essence, a futures contract allows you to lock in a market price now for a transaction that occurs later. This benefits both parties: buyers secure a price, and sellers know what they'll earn. In today's markets, futures are primarily used for speculation or hedging against price swings. With Kraken Derivatives US, you can trade futures across a variety of asset classes including crypto, indices, commodities, FX, and interest rates.

Trading hours depend on the exchange where the contract is listed.

CME-listed contracts (crypto, indices, commodities, FX, and interest rates) follow a weekly schedule: Trading begins Sunday at 5:00 pm CT and ends Friday at 4:00 pm CT. Kraken Derivatives US recognizes a day-trading session cutoff at 3:45 pm CT. Any open positions held after this time must meet initial margin requirements to be held overnight. Positions that do not meet this threshold may be liquidated.

Bitnomial-listed contracts (perpetual futures) trade 24/7, subject to scheduled maintenance windows. See Maintenance windows for US Perpetual Futures for details.

For a full breakdown of trading hours, holiday schedules, and exchange calendars, see Trading Hours and Calendar.

Orders are the primary mechanism for entering and exiting futures positions. Understanding order types is foundational to building a trading strategy:

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    Market Order – A market order is a basic order type that instructs the broker to buy or sell at the best available price. Market orders are considered to be the most immediate way to enter or exit a trade and are often executed instantaneously.

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    Limit Order – A limit order is an order type that enters an order to buy or sell a futures contract at a specific price or better. Limit orders do not guarantee a fill, they do allow the trader to specify a price to prevent negative slippage.

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    Stop Market Order – A stop market order is an order type that issues a market order once a specified price has been reached, known as the stop price. Once the stop price has been touched or surpassed, the stop market order becomes a market order and will execute at the best possible price.

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    Stop Limit Order – A stop limit order is similar to a stop market order, except that when the stop price is touched or surpassed, a limit order is issued. This gives you more control of where the order will execute but on the other hand, does not guarantee a fill.

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    Trailing Stop Order – A trailing stop order allows the stop price to follow or "trail" the market at a specified distance. If the market moves in your favor, the stop price adjusts; if it moves against you by the trailing amount, the order becomes a market order.

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    Trailing Stop Limit Order – This functions similarly to a trailing stop order, but instead of becoming a market order, it triggers a limit order when the trail is hit. This gives you more control over the price but does not guarantee execution in fast-moving markets.

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    Take Profit / Stop Loss Order – Kraken Pro allows you to attach Take Profit and Stop Loss protection orders directly to your entry order through the order form. A Take Profit automatically closes your position when the market reaches your desired profit target. A Stop Loss automatically closes your position if the market moves against you by a set amount, helping to limit potential losses.

All these order types are available for both CME and Bitnomial-listed contracts.

Note for perpetual futures: When trading perpetual futures listed on Bitnomial Exchange, the following time-in-force options apply:

  • Day — the order is active for the current trading session only
  • IOC (Immediate or Cancel) — the order fills immediately at the available price, and any unfilled portion is cancelled

Good Till Cancelled (GTC) is not supported for perpetual futures.

Margin in futures trading refers to the amount of equity that a trader must deposit with a broker to cover any credit risk. Margin in futures acts as a performance bond - a deposit to ensure a trader can cover potential losses. In futures trading, margin allows traders to control a larger notional position while posting only a portion of the contract value as collateral. When trading futures there are different types of margin that one must understand.

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    Intraday Margin: The minimum balance your account must maintain per contract while a position is open during active trading hours. For CME-listed contracts, intraday margin rates apply from the product's open until 15 minutes before the session close (3:45 pm CT). For Bitnomial-listed perpetual futures, intraday margin applies continuously while the market is open.

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    Initial Margin: Set by the exchange, initial margin is the amount required to hold a position through a market close. For CME-listed contracts, this applies overnight. For Bitnomial-listed perpetual futures, initial margin applies during scheduled maintenance windows. Initial margin requirements can change frequently based on volatility.

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    Maintenance Margin: This is the minimum amount of equity a trader must have in their account at any given time to hold positions over multiple sessions. If funds drop below this account you may receive a margin call requiring you to receive funds immediately to bring the account back to the initial margin level. If you do not do this it can result in a full or partial liquidation.

Where intraday margin allows users to trade at higher leverages, the likelihood of liquidation also increases. Kraken Derivatives US offers a toggle to allow traders to select between using intraday margin vs. initial margin for order form validation as a way to mitigate risks early on and ensure positions opened are manageable. If initial margin is used, liquidations are less likely as validation will prevent traders from submitting orders that could otherwise liquidate them intraday or at session close. Traders can still reach liquidation thresholds if the performance of their assets send them to high margin levels and it is up to the trader to monitor their positions.

Leverage in futures allows traders to control large notional values with smaller deposits, amplifying potential gains and losses. For example, with $1,000 of margin, you might control a $10,000 contract—that’s 10x leverage.

Unlike other leveraged instruments, futures use regulated, exchange-defined margin rules, providing clarity on your maximum exposure. But with higher leverage comes higher risk: price movements can quickly impact your available balance, leading to liquidation if margins aren't maintained. Leverage varies by contract and is determined by the exchange-set margin requirements for each instrument. You can view the margin requirements for any contract by selecting it on the Trade page and opening the contract specification.

Liquidity represents the number of participants currently engaged in a market. In futures, liquidity refers to trading volume and order book depth, facilitating efficient entry and exit market prices. Liquid markets have consistently high levels of trading activity, which results in efficient pricing and execution.

Liquidity gives traders opportunities to buy or sell at every price level. Without it, no one would be able to get the prices they wanted. If a speculator is “long”, then they want the market to go up to sell at a higher price. If a speculator is “short, then they want the market to go down to buy back at a lower price.

CME-listed contracts

Futures contracts expire monthly or quarterly depending on the product. Prior to expiration, traders either close their positions or manually "roll" them by opening a position in the next active contract month.

Kraken Derivatives US does not currently offer automatic rollovers. If your contract is still open at expiration, it will be cash-settled. You'll see a corresponding debit or credit in your account based on the final settlement price. You should monitor their contract maturity dates to ensure that they close their contract prior to maturity if you want more control over their positions.

Bitnomial-listed contracts (perpetual futures)

Perpetual futures have no expiration date and no roll dates to manage. You can hold a position for as long as you choose without closing and reopening in a new contract. See US Perpetual Futures for details.

All contracts are cash-settled — you never take delivery of the underlying asset.

PnL (Profit and Loss) in futures is calculated using Mark-to-Market (MtM) methodology:

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    Unrealized PnL: Based on current price vs. entry price. Visible in your Kraken UI.

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    Realized PnL: Captured when a position is closed. Adjusted for any fees.

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    Settlement PnL: Final Mark-to-Market accounting at the end of each trading day, shown in your FCM statement.

Your Kraken interface reflects real-time PnL for open and closed positions, but full accounting including settlement adjustments will be available in your FCM daily and monthly reports.

For perpetual futures, funding rate payments are aggregated and applied as a single cash adjustment to your available balance at 3:00 pm CT daily and are not included in your PnL calculations. To get a complete picture of your return on a perpetual futures position, factor in all funding payments made or received while the position was open.

Futures and spot margin trading involves substantial risk and is not suitable for everyone. You may lose all or more than the initial investment, exceeding the value of collateral deposited with the firm to open and maintain the position. You may be required to provide additional collateral on short notice or no notice, and you may remain responsible for any deficiency after liquidation and collateral application. Trading should be undertaken only with risk capital, funds that can be lost without jeopardizing one's financial security or lifestyle, and only by those who can afford such losses. While leverage can increase potential returns, it also significantly increases risk. Leverage available may vary by asset. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Availability of spot margin trading through Kraken Derivatives US is subject to certain limitations and eligibility criteria. View Risk Disclosure Statement.

U.S. Futures and spot margin trading is provided by NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC d/b/a Kraken Derivatives US, a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant and NFA Member (NFA ID: 0309379), with financing provided by Payward Accredited LLC. View Disclosures.

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