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Payward Completes Acquisition of Bitnomial, the First Fully CFTC-Licensed Crypto-Native Derivatives Stack in the US

May 01, 2026

Combination enables CFTC-regulated derivatives across Kraken, NinjaTrader and Payward Services, beginning with spot margin on Kraken.

We're excited to announce the completion of our acquisition of Bitnomial, the first fully CFTC-licensed derivatives company in the US built for digital assets.

Payward now owns the complete US derivatives stack — a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), a Designated Contract Market (DCM), and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) — built over more than a decade with digital asset markets as the design basis.

This is the foundation that enables Payward to bring CFTC-regulated spot margin, perpetuals and options to eligible US clients on Kraken and NinjaTrader.

The acquisition, which was first announced on April 17, 2026, completes a multi-year build-out of regulated derivatives infrastructure across our major markets, following the acquisition of the first licensed crypto futures platform in the UK in 2019 and the launch of a regulated EU derivatives offering in 2025.

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken: "Closing this deal brings a regulated US derivatives stack to Payward, its clients and partners. A broker, exchange, clearinghouse purpose-built for digital assets, not adapted to them."

"That stack is what makes the next set of products possible. We're starting with spot margin on Kraken, with perpetuals and options to follow. All under CFTC regulation, all in the US."

Bitnomial will continue to operate within the Payward group, with its existing licenses, regulatory structure and third-party clearing operations intact. We plan to scale Bitnomial's team and operations as we build out our US derivatives capabilities.

Through Payward Services, the company's B2B infrastructure platform, the acquisition opens a new channel for partners including fintechs, banks, brokerages, and payment providers. They can offer regulated US derivatives to their own end clients via a single integration, alongside existing capabilities across crypto trading, tokenized equities, staking, and on/off-ramps.

Read the full release

About Bitnomial, LLC

Bitnomial, LLC, headquartered in Chicago, is a derivatives exchange company that owns and operates U.S. CFTC-regulated exchange (DCM), clearinghouse (DCO), and clearing brokerage (FCM) subsidiaries. Bitnomial offers leveraged spot, perpetuals, futures, options, and prediction markets on a single unified exchange and clearinghouse with digital asset margin and settlement capabilities.

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Leveraged spot, perpetuals, futures, options, and prediction markets, all on one CFTC-regulated exchange with crypto margin and settlement.

Signing up with Bitnomial, LLC requires additional verification with an FCM to trade futures. Futures accounts are offered by Bitnomial Clearing, LLC, a CFTC-registered FCM and NFA member. Trading in futures involves substantial risks. You should only trade in financial products that you are familiar with and understand the associated risks, and after carefully considering whether such trading is suitable in light of your investment experience, financial position, and investment objectives. Leverage in futures trading can work for you or against you. The risk of loss using leverage can exceed your initial investment amount. See Bitnomial entity affiliation and registration disclosures and FCM financial and risk disclosures.