Kraken opens BTC and ETH options to EEA clients via Cyprus licence

Kraken opened trading in bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) options to eligible clients in the European Economic Area (EEA) on 26 October 2026, on its Kraken Pro platform. The launch was announced in a blog post timestamped 17:13 UTC (18:13 Paris time). The offering runs through the group's Cypriot subsidiary, Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, which is authorised by CySEC under MiFID licence 342/17.

The options are available on web and mobile, from the Derivatives account clients already use for futures, with no need to open a new wallet. Access is limited to EEA countries where Kraken already offers derivatives, and clients must first pass an appropriateness test in the form of a questionnaire.

European-style contracts settled in dollars

According to Kraken, the contracts are European-style, cash-settled and linear in US dollars. The premium, profit and loss and final settlement are all denominated in USD, and clients never receive BTC or ETH. The underlyings are XBT/USD and ETH/USD, with weekly, monthly, quarterly and semi-annual expiries.

Portfolio margin is enabled by default. Collateral is shared with futures, and more than 30 currencies and assets are accepted. The margin model mirrors futures: the premium is not paid in full when a position is opened, and gains and losses are continuously marked against the client's collateral.

Trading only through requests for quote

Trading takes place exclusively through a request-for-quote (RFQ) system. A single trade can include up to five legs. Quotes are valid only for a limited time, and accepting one is binding on the client. There is no public order book for now. According to Finance Magnates and CoinDesk, Kraken plans to add one later, along with further underlyings, without giving a timetable.

The group attaches risk warnings to the launch: an option buyer can lose the option's entire value, a seller can lose far more than the margin posted, with potentially unlimited losses, margin requirements can change and positions can be liquidated.

A MiFID licence acquired in Cyprus

PEDSL-CY was formerly named I.F. Greenfields Wealth Ltd. According to Finance Magnates, TokenPost and Yahoo Finance, Kraken obtained its European MiFID licence in 2025 by acquiring this Cypriot investment firm. Custody of crypto-assets sits with a separate entity, Ireland-based Payward Europe Solutions Limited, under the EU's MiCA regulation.

“Our MiFID license is a big part of why options are launching here,” Kraken wrote on its blog. The group had launched the same options outside Europe in July 2026 for professional and institutional clients, saying at the time that EEA access would follow later in the year.

Open questions

The announcement refers to “eligible clients” without stating which MiFID client category is covered. It is therefore not established whether retail clients have access, or only professional clients, as with the July launch outside Europe. Kraken has not published the exact list of EEA countries, saying only that the offering is available where it provides derivatives. Trading fees for options in the EEA, margin levels and effective leverage have not been disclosed.

What it means for traders

Eligibility is first a matter of geography. The United Kingdom, Switzerland and Quebec are not part of the EEA, nor are Brazil or French-speaking Africa, so Kraken clients based there would not be covered by this offering.

Dollar settlement would expose traders with euro-denominated accounts to EUR/USD currency risk on top of moves in the underlying. The lack of an order book also changes execution: without a conventional limit order, traders request a price and then accept it or not within the validity window, knowing that acceptance is final.

With shared collateral and portfolio margin switched on by default, a loss on options could trigger a margin call or even the liquidation of other positions in the Derivatives account. The futures-style margin model brings these contracts closer to a leveraged product, which puts leverage management at the centre. Clients concerned would do well to check their MiFID category, availability in their country and the fee schedule, and newcomers may want to revisit how options work. The contracting entity, PEDSL-CY, is also distinct from the entity that holds crypto-assets.