Kraken options in the EEA: BTC and ETH on Kraken Pro

On 26 October 2026 Kraken opened options on bitcoin and ether to eligible clients in the European Economic Area (EEA). You trade them in Kraken Pro, on the web or in the app, from the derivatives account you may already use for futures. These are European-style contracts settled in dollars, with expiries from one week to six months. Before you can trade options, you first have to complete a questionnaire: Kraken checks whether the product suits your knowledge and experience.

Options are complex products. If you buy an option, you can lose the full value of that position; if you sell one, according to Kraken you can lose more than the margin you deposited, in theory without limit. This article explains what Kraken offers exactly, who provides the service and what is not yet known. Kraken is one of the partners we work with; the news is described here as it appears in Kraken's own announcement, drawbacks included.

Kraken options in short

• What: options on BTC (XBT/USD) and ETH (ETH/USD), tradable in Kraken Pro, on the web and in the mobile app.
• For whom: eligible clients in the EEA countries where Kraken offers derivatives. The announcement does not include a list of those countries, but it does warn that geographical restrictions may apply.
• Type: European-style options (exercisable only on the expiry date), cash-settled and linear in US dollars. Premium, profit or loss and settlement are therefore all in dollars.
• Expiries: weekly, monthly, quarterly and half-yearly.
• Trading: through a request for quote (RFQ), with up to five components (‘legs’) per transaction. An accepted quote is binding.
• Margin: as with futures, with portfolio margin on by default and the same collateral pool as your futures, in which more than 30 currencies and assets can serve as collateral.
• Who provides it: Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, an investment firm in Cyprus supervised by CySEC (authorisation 342/17). Kraken says the options fall under that company’s MiFID authorisation.
• Costs: the announcement mentions no fee, no commission and no spread.

What you can trade

Kraken’s announcement on its own blog, published on 26 October 2026, lists the following features:

Kraken explicitly presents the step as an extension of the derivatives account, not as a separate new product alongside it: you do not need a new wallet. The company names its MiFID authorisation as the main reason options can now start in Europe.

Kraken itself describes what makes options different from futures like this: a future gives you one dimension, price; an option gives you three, price, volatility and time. Kraken gives three examples of use and notes that this is explanation and not a recommendation:

• A straddle: a call and a put together. It can make a profit on a big move in either direction, but loses value if the market moves less than the combined premium paid.
• A put as a hedge: you keep your bitcoin and buy a put, so that a fall is partly offset. The put costs money and does not remove market risk entirely.
• A call, put or spread with a known maximum loss: you express a view on direction with a loss that is fixed when you open the position.

How trading works: quotes, margin and auction

Request for quote instead of an order book. Options on Kraken Pro run through RFQ. You build a transaction of up to five components, submit it and receive quotes with limited validity. You can accept a quote or let it lapse, but accepting is binding. There is therefore no public order book; according to Finance Magnates’ reporting, a later phase may bring one, with more underlying assets, but there is no date.

Margin as with futures. You do not pay the premium upfront. Profit and loss are settled against your collateral at the market price (‘mark-to-market’). Portfolio margin is on by default: opposing positions reduce the margin you have to hold. Kraken warns that margin requirements can change at any time and that your positions can be liquidated if your account falls below the required margin.

No funding. On options you neither pay nor receive a funding fee. On perpetuals in the same account it keeps running as usual.

Auction in case of trouble. If a portfolio gets into difficulty, according to Kraken it goes through a sealed-offer auction and not through liquidation in the order book.

Buying or selling: where the risk lies

That is why Kraken first asks for a suitability check, and why the announcement says options are “not suitable for all investors”.

Who provides what: MiFID, MiCA and your collateral

The options are a financial instrument, not a crypto-asset service within the meaning of MiCA. Kraken explains the split like this:

• Options (investment services): Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, supervised by CySEC (the Cypriot regulator), authorisation number 342/17, registered in Cyprus under number HE 356603. This company was previously called I.F. Greenfields Wealth Ltd.
• Custody of the crypto-assets: Payward Europe Solutions Limited (PESL), which Kraken calls “your MiCA custodian”. This company is listed in the ESMA register with an authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland since 25 June 2025 (register as of 22 October 2026, see the MiCA authorisations register).

Kraken stresses that each entity works only within its own authorisation and that there is no joint service or mutual responsibility. For you that means: Kraken’s MiCA authorisation in Ireland covers custody and trading of crypto, not the options themselves. You can find more about the authorisation in our Kraken review.

What does this mean for you as a European investor?

Do you qualify? Kraken names two conditions: you live in the EEA, in a country where Kraken offers derivatives, and you complete the questionnaire of the suitability check. A list of countries and the criteria of the check are not in the announcement. So open the derivatives account in Kraken Pro to see whether options are available to you.

Do you already have a futures account? Then you use the same account and the same collateral pool. That is convenient, but it also means that losses on options can reduce your available margin for futures, because the collateral pool is shared. That is a consequence of the shared pool and not a claim by Kraken.

Tax. Kraken writes that tax may be due on returns and that you should seek your own advice on your tax position. How profits on options are taxed differs per country. You can find an overview per country at crypto tax in Europe.

If you are just starting. According to Kraken itself, options are not suitable for all investors. If you have never traded futures, start with the basics in our crypto security checklist and read the key information document (KID) that Kraken makes available for each option.

We previously wrote about this: Kraken delisting: withdraw tokens by 6 November.

What is not certain yet

• Costs. Kraken’s announcement mentions no commission, no spread and no costs for the RFQ. Without a fee schedule there is nothing to compare with other providers.
• Countries. There is no list of EEA countries. Only “where we offer derivatives” and “geographical restrictions may apply”.
• Suitability check. The criteria for “eligible clients” and the questionnaire are not described.
• Order book and more markets. According to Finance Magnates’ reporting, a public order book and more underlying assets may come later, without a date. Kraken’s official blog post only describes the current RFQ set-up.
• Minimum size and strike prices. Nothing is said about these in the announcement.

This article is not investment or tax advice. Crypto can fall sharply in value and you can lose your entire stake. With options, if you sell them, you can lose more than your stake.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy bitcoin options at Kraken as a Dutch resident?

Kraken offers options in the EEA countries where it offers derivatives, and the Netherlands is in the EEA. Kraken has not published a list of countries. Whether it is open to you, you can see in the derivatives account in Kraken Pro, after the questionnaire.

What is the difference between options and futures on Kraken?

A future gives you exposure to the price. An option gives you a right (or, if you sell, an obligation) at an agreed price and expiry date, and also responds to volatility and time. On Kraken you use the same collateral pool for both, and options carry no funding.

What is a European-style option?

A European-style option can only be exercised on the expiry date. The options on Kraken are European-style and are cash-settled in dollars; you therefore do not receive bitcoin or ether.

What is RFQ?

RFQ stands for request for quote. You ask for a price for a transaction of up to five components, receive quotes with limited validity and can accept one. Accepting is binding.

Are my options covered by Kraken’s MiCA authorisation?

According to Kraken, no: the options are provided by an investment firm in Cyprus under CySEC, the custody of your crypto-assets by the Irish entity with the MiCA authorisation.

Sources

Read on 31 October 2026.

• Kraken, Options are now available on Kraken Pro in the EEA, 26 October 2026. Primary source for all product details, risk warnings and entities.
• Kraken Support, Moving derivatives trading to Kraken Pro (EEA), last updated 26 May 2025. States the CySEC authorisation 342/17 of Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited.
• PrimeXBT, Kraken opens bitcoin and ether options to EEA clients under Cyprus licence, 26 October 2026, based on a report by Finance Magnates. Confirms the product features and mentions the possible later phase with an order book.
• ESMA, register of crypto-asset service providers, as of 22 October 2026 (see the MiCA authorisations register).