U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has added a perpetual contract on the S&P 500 index to its prop trading program, giving traders with funded accounts around-the-clock access to the U.S. stock index.
As reported in a blog post published by the company on Wednesday, the product is structured as a perpetual contract with a price calculated based on an oracle tracking the S&P 500 index. Unlike a standardized futures contract, it has no expiration date and does not require rolling over.
The S&P 500 is the second traditional market accessible through Kraken Prop, following the Nasdaq 100. The next stage for the company is to add commodities, expanding its multi-asset offering. According to Kraken, traders can access the S&P 500 market via Kraken Prop's evaluation and funded accounts with leverage of up to 5x and a maximum notional exposure of $1 million.
In Kraken Prop, traders can open an evaluation account and, after meeting the program requirements, become eligible to trade with Kraken's capital. The cost of evaluation plans starts at $20, while the size of funded accounts ranges from $5,000 to $200,000.
The launch follows Kraken providing retail investors access to Jersey Mike's initial public offering in July via direct distribution of shares in the U.S. and tokenized shares in more than 110 countries. The exchange continues to expand its range of traditional financial products.
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