Kraken has launched perpetual futures for eligible U.S. clients through a CFTC-regulated venue, bringing a product that generated more than $60 trillion in global crypto trading volume in 2025 onto its U.S. platform.

According to a June 15 announcement from Kraken, eligible U.S. users can now trade perpetual futures on Kraken Pro alongside spot, margin and traditional futures products, allowing them to manage multiple trading strategies within a single account.

Perpetual futures have become the dominant product in crypto derivatives markets because they trade continuously and do not expire. Industry data cited by crypto.news previously showed perpetual contracts accounted for $61.7 trillion in trading volume during 2025, making up most activity across the sector.

Unlike traditional futures contracts that settle on a specific date, perpetuals allow traders to maintain positions indefinitely while funding payments help keep prices aligned with the underlying asset.

Kraken brings perpetual futures onshore through Bitnomial acquisition

Central to the launch is Kraken’s acquisition of Bitnomial, a CFTC-licensed derivatives platform purchased earlier this year by parent company Payward.

Kraken said Bitnomial holds exchange, clearinghouse and brokerage licenses, enabling the company to offer perpetual futures to eligible U.S. clients within the CFTC’s regulatory framework. Through the integration, traders can use the same collateral pool across perpetual futures and other derivatives positions rather than moving assets between separate venues.

Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the exchange’s objective was to place spot, margin, futures and perpetual contracts within a single account structure so traders do not need to spread capital across multiple platforms.

John Palmer, Kraken’s global head of derivatives, said traders previously faced operational challenges because perpetual futures and other positions often had to be managed on different venues. He said Kraken’s new setup allows clients to access both from one account and through a single counterparty.

The launch comes days after rival exchange Coinbase announced approval to provide access to global crypto perpetual futures liquidity for U.S. users.

As reported by crypto.news on June 11, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the approval would allow American traders to access a market that had largely developed outside the United States due to regulatory restrictions. Coinbase also stated that its structure would connect domestic users to global liquidity through Deribit, the derivatives exchange it acquired earlier this year for $2.9 billion.

Both developments arrive as U.S. regulators have begun allowing regulated access to products that were historically concentrated on offshore platforms, giving domestic traders new ways to participate in crypto derivatives markets while remaining within U.S. compliance requirements.

The odds of securing a July 4 signing for the CLARITY Act have narrowed, with lawmakers, industry groups, and market observers increasingly turning their attention to the August recess.

According to reporting from Crypto In America, many policymakers and industry participants now view August as the more realistic benchmark for advancing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, despite continued support from the White House for an Independence Day deadline.

At Consensus Miami in May, White House Crypto Council Executive Director Patrick Witt said the administration was working toward passage by July 4, describing the legislation as a potential birthday gift for the United States as it prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary.

Witt reiterated that optimism in comments to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett on Friday, citing ongoing efforts to resolve Agriculture Committee language, negotiate ethics provisions with Democrats, and address law enforcement concerns tied to illicit finance measures.

Yet the legislative path remains demanding. As outlined by Terrett on Monday, the Senate must still merge separate versions approved by the Banking and Agriculture Committees, secure 60 votes to advance debate, clear additional cloture votes on amendments, and pass the final measure before sending it to the House for approval of any Senate changes.

Limited Senate calendar complicates July target

Legislative timing has become one of the biggest obstacles facing the bill.

“But even if all of those outstanding issues were resolved this week, there simply isn’t enough time left on the legislative calendar to make a July 4 signing logistically possible,” Terrett wrote on Monday.

According to prediction market platform Polymarket, the odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 have fallen to 53%, down from about 75% in May.

The timeline has become more challenging because several negotiations remain unfinished. According to Crypto In America, talks over ethics provisions sought by Democrats have been difficult, while other policy questions continue to be debated between lawmakers.

Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, one of the bill’s leading architects, previously told Terrett’s newsletter that combining the committee proposals, ethics language, and related changes tied to the GENIUS Act into a single package and obtaining the required 60 votes could take longer than the July 4 target allows.

The legislation has nevertheless made measurable progress. The Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill with bipartisan backing, while two Democratic members supported the measure on the condition that stronger ethics safeguards linked to President Donald Trump were incorporated into the final text.

Industry support remains strong despite delays

The CLARITY Act remains one of the most significant crypto market structure proposals considered by Congress. The legislation would establish clearer jurisdictional boundaries for digital assets, placing decentralized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while leaving qualifying securities under securities regulators.

Beyond market classification, the bill contains provisions covering stablecoins, anti-money laundering compliance, decentralized finance activities, and blockchain validators. As reported by crypto.news earlier, more than 200 crypto organizations, including Coinbase and Ripple, recently urged lawmakers to advance the legislation.

Additional pressure comes from competing congressional priorities. According to Crypto In America, lawmakers must also address a bipartisan housing package, the nomination of former SEC Chair Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence, and the reauthorization of FISA Section 702.

Despite the delays, some observers believe the bill retains enough political support to continue moving forward. Adam Minehardt of the Hyperliquid Policy Center told Crypto In America that the amount of political capital already invested in the legislation makes it unlikely to disappear from the congressional agenda, even if the July 4 target is missed.

Anthropic has been hit with a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that subscribers paying up to $200 per month for premium Claude plans have received significantly less usage than the company’s marketing materials suggested.

According to a complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Washington, D.C. resident Karl Kahn is seeking class-action status on behalf of customers who have paid for Anthropic’s higher-tier Claude subscriptions since April 2024.

The filing argues that the company’s Max 5x and Max 20x plans do not provide the level of access many users would reasonably expect from their advertised terms.

At the center of the dispute are Anthropic’s premium subscription tiers, which cost $100 and $200 per month. According to the lawsuit, the company promotes those plans as offering five times and 20 times the usage available under its standard Pro subscription.

The complaint alleges that the actual limits imposed on subscribers fall well below those advertised multipliers and are difficult for customers to predict before reaching usage caps.

Kahn claims he upgraded to the Max 20x plan after increasing his use of Claude for software development and coding tasks. According to the filing, a single five-hour work session consumed roughly 15% of his weekly allowance.

The lawsuit argues that such restrictions forced subscribers to either stop working, ration their usage, or purchase additional access to complete projects.

The complaint focuses on premium subscription limits

Supporting its claims, the lawsuit references emails Anthropic allegedly sent to subscribers in July 2025. According to the complaint, those communications outlined expected weekly usage allowances across different Claude models and subscription tiers.

The plaintiff argues that those disclosures demonstrate a gap between how the plans were marketed and the access ultimately provided.

As a result, the filing asks the court to determine that Anthropic’s marketing practices were misleading or fraudulent and seeks relief for affected subscribers. The case arrives as the company continues to attract investor attention ahead of a widely anticipated public offering.

Legal scrutiny is not limited to Anthropic. Recently, OpenAI faced a multistate investigation related to alleged consumer harm connected to ChatGPT. The probe gained attention because it emerged shortly after reports that OpenAI had confidentially filed paperwork related to a potential IPO.

Anthropic faces pressure from multiple fronts

The lawsuit adds another challenge for Anthropic only days after the company drew attention for a separate controversy involving access to its advanced AI models.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Anthropic suspended access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models after complying with a U.S. government directive tied to export controls.

According to Anthropic, the order required restrictions on foreign nationals, including foreign-national employees located both inside and outside the United States. To comply, the company disabled access to both models while keeping other Claude models available.

Commenting on that decision, CoinFund founder Jake Brukhman argued recently that advanced AI models have become key points of centralized control.

According to Brukhman, decentralized AI networks are attracting interest because access to large-scale computing resources can be distributed rather than concentrated within a small number of companies.

Brukhman cited projects including Gensyn, Prime Intellect, Bagel, Pluralis, Nous Research, Macrocosmos AI, and Covenant as examples of teams working on distributed AI training systems. According to his post, those efforts suggest decentralized training can compete with centralized approaches, although technical challenges remain.

Meanwhile, the newly filed lawsuit places Anthropic’s subscription business under a different form of scrutiny as the company navigates both regulatory and consumer-facing disputes.

Key Takeaways

• MediaTek is pivoting from traditional chip design to comprehensive system-level AI hardware solutions, pursuing opportunities with Google’s TPU and AI infrastructure projects linked to Elon Musk’s ventures.
• TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo notes this strategic transformation won’t significantly affect MediaTek’s financials in the immediate two-year window but establishes groundwork for future expansion.
• Google is pursuing discussions with Samsung for manufacturing components of its upcoming AI processor, designated Icefish, as TSMC faces capacity constraints.
• The Google-Samsung negotiations underscore the intense competition for advanced AI chip fabrication, forcing even premium clients to seek alternative manufacturing partners.
• MediaTek’s expansion into system-level solutions aims for 40–50% gross margins using an asset-light approach, outsourcing production while maintaining control over design and quality assurance.

MediaTek is undertaking a significant transformation in its artificial intelligence business model, moving beyond traditional semiconductor design toward comprehensive system-level hardware solutions. The Taiwanese technology firm is pursuing two strategic opportunities: managing printed circuit board assembly for Google’s Tensor Processing Unit and developing rack-level infrastructure for AI companies associated with Elon Musk.

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According to Ming-Chi Kuo from TF International Securities, this strategic realignment represents a fundamental business evolution rather than a short-term revenue initiative.

“MediaTek has elevated its AI business strategy from integrated circuit and application-specific integrated circuit design to comprehensive system-level design,” Kuo explained. He emphasized the transition carries “minimal impact on core business fundamentals through the next 24 months.”

Dual-Track Approach: Pursuing Google and Musk-Connected Ventures

These two strategic pathways present distinct characteristics and challenges. Google operates an established and mature hardware manufacturing network, making MediaTek’s prospects for securing premium rack-level integration contracts somewhat limited.

MediaTek’s more viable entry into Google’s ecosystem lies at the circuit board level, beginning with the tenth-generation TPU processor codenamed Icefish.

The opportunity with Musk-affiliated enterprises presents a contrasting scenario. These organizations are currently developing proprietary AI processors at commercial scale, and their rack assembly infrastructure remains in nascent stages.

“This represents MediaTek’s strategic window,” Kuo stated. He emphasized that sustained success hinges on MediaTek capitalizing on Taiwan’s robust hardware manufacturing ecosystem and its collaboration with Terafab, while acknowledging the initiative “currently lacks definitive timeline clarity.”

MediaTek’s financial model for this segment targets gross profit margins between 40% and 50% by maintaining leadership in design and validation processes while delegating actual manufacturing to third parties, ensuring operational efficiency.

Google Explores Samsung Partnership Amid TSMC Production Constraints

Simultaneously, Google is reportedly negotiating with Samsung to produce a memory input-output component for the Icefish processor. TSMC would continue manufacturing the primary computational core utilizing its cutting-edge 1.4-nanometer fabrication technology.

Wedbush Securities analysts suggest the Samsung discussions primarily stem from constrained manufacturing capacity at TSMC rather than signaling dissatisfaction with their services. Essentially, the extraordinary demand for advanced AI semiconductor production has reached levels where even flagship customers like Google must diversify their manufacturing partnerships.

Employing Samsung introduces operational complexities. Distributing chip fabrication across multiple foundries increases coordination challenges and potentially impacts production yields and economic efficiency.

For Google, the objective centers on guaranteeing adequate supply to support expanding AI infrastructure requirements. For Samsung, this opportunity represents a pathway to secure additional high-value foundry contracts.

Kuo’s broader analysis suggests MediaTek’s current ASIC chip design operations may experience deceleration within two to three years as the semiconductor industry transitions toward emerging architectures. This potential headwind underscores why the system-level expansion represents a strategic imperative, despite contributing minimal near-term revenue growth.

The most significant near-term indicator will be whether MediaTek secures qualification contracts for the TPU v10 Icefish processor. Regarding the Musk-affiliated ventures, specific implementation timelines remain undefined.