Every futures contract listed on Kraken Derivatives US comes with a set of standard parameters known as its contract specifications. These specifications define the structure and behavior of each contract and are essential for understanding how margin, pricing, and fees work.
Each futures contract has a defined expiration date—the final day the contract is tradable. After this date, the contract expires and is no longer active.
On Kraken Derivatives US, all contracts are cash-settled, meaning:
If a position is open at expiration, it will be closed automatically.
A debit or credit will be applied to your account based on the final settlement price.
There is no physical delivery of the asset.
It is the trader’s responsibility to monitor contract maturity and close or roll positions as needed before expiration.
Contract size, sometimes called the contract multiplier, defines how much of the underlying asset is represented by one futures contract.
Examples:
BTC (Bitcoin): 5 BTC per contract
MBT (Micro Bitcoin): 0.1 BTC per contract
ETH (Bitcoin): 50 ETH per contract
MET (Micro Ether): 0.1 ETH per contract
GSOL (Solana): 500 SOL per contract
MSL (Micro Solana): 25 SOL per contract
This specification is critical when calculating notional value and understanding your exposure per trade.
Intraday Margin: Lower requirement for trades placed and closed within the same session. Used from market open until 15 minutes before the close.
Initial Margin: Higher requirement used to hold a position past the session close. Enforced starting 15 minutes before the session ends.
You can see the margin requirements for each contract in the margin table or on the individual contract detail page. Margin can also be elevated if purchasing high quantities of contracts of a single contract.
Value per point defines the dollar value of each 1-point price movement in the contract. It tells you how much your PnL (profit and loss) will change for each point the contract price moves in your favor or against you.
Example: If a contract has a value per point of $10, and the price moves from 1,000 to 1,005, the PnL impact is $50 per contract.
A tick is the smallest possible price increment by which a contract can move. Tick size is the defined interval between allowed price levels. For example, if the tick size is 0.25, prices can move in increments of 0.25 (e.g., from 100.00 to 100.25).
Tick value is the dollar value of one tick movement. It tells you how much your PnL will change for a single tick change in the contract price.
Example:
Tick Size = 0.25
Value Per Point = $10
Tick Value = $2.50 (because 0.25 tick size × $10 per point)
The tick size defines the price precision, and tick value defines the impact of movement. Together, they help traders calculate risk and understand minimum profit/loss increments.
Futures contracts must be traded in whole units. You cannot trade fractional contracts. Each order must be rounded to the nearest full contract based on your available margin.
If the notional value or available balance doesn't meet the minimum required to open 1 contract, the order will not be accepted.
Each contract has specific open and close hours, governed by the exchange (CME for all crypto futures at MVP). These are typically:
Session Opens: Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CT
Session Closes: Friday at 4:00 p.m. CT
Intraday margin cutoff: 15 minutes before close (3:45 p.m. CT)
Exact hours for each instrument are listed on the contract specification pages.
Each futures (entry and exit) trade incurs a set of fixed and percentage-based fees:
Exchange Fee: Collected by CME
NFA Fee: Set by the National Futures Association
Clearing Fee: Covers transaction clearing
Commission Fee: Kraken Derivatives US charges a flat commission of 0.5 basis points (0.00005) per side, based on notional value, rounded up to the nearest cent if under $0.01.
Example:
Notional Trade Value: $10,000
Commission per side: 10,000 × 0.00005 = $0.50
Round-trip commission = $1.00 total
These fees are clearly shown on each contract’s specification page and in the order preview window before execution.
Notional value is the dollar amount represented by your futures trade.
Formula: Notional Value = Contract Price x Contract Size (units)
Example:
If MBT (Micro Bitcoin) is trading at $60,000 and each contract represents 0.1 BTC:
Notional Value = 60,000 × 0.1 = $6,000 per contract
Kraken displays notional value during order entry to help you track fees, margin use, and trade exposure.
Each futures contract is represented by a standardized symbol made up of:
Product Code (e.g. BTC, ETH, GSOL)
Expiration Month Code (e.g. M = June, U = September)
Year Code (e.g. 25 = 2025)
Example: BTCM25 = Bitcoin futures expiring in June 2025
Month codes follow CME convention:
January - F
February - G
March - H
April - J
May - K
June - M
July - N
August - Q
September - U
October - V
November - X
December - Z
Brokerage services are provided by NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC doing business as Kraken Derivatives US, a Futures Commission Merchant registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and a member of the National Futures Association (NFA ID #0309379).