The landscape of proprietary trading underwent a notable shift as Kraken Prop officially rolled out a major expansion of its platform, headlined by the introduction of gold and five other core commodity markets. Effective October 29, 2026, traders operating within the platform are no longer constrained solely by crypto and index instruments, opening up global macroeconomic plays directly to retail participants leveraging simulated capital models. Alongside the new asset classes, the firm implemented a sweeping reduction in trading costs, halving commissions across all non-crypto offerings to improve structural profitability for active participants.
This development represents a calculated push by Payward Oceanic Ltd., the corporate entity behind the offering, to capture market share in the rapidly growing retail prop trading sector. By addressing long-standing trader demands for precious metals and energy assets—while simultaneously reducing transaction friction—Kraken Prop is positioning itself as a comprehensive multi-asset destination. The rollout arrives at a time of heightened macroeconomic volatility, where institutional and retail participants alike are seeking exposure to safe-haven assets and raw materials amidst persistent global inflation and geopolitical realisations.
Background Context and Evolution of Retail Proprietary Trading
The retail proprietary trading industry has experienced exponential growth over the past half-decade. Traditionally, high-net-worth individuals or institutional professionals were the primary demographic capable of trading substantial allocations in commodities like WTI crude or Brent oil through conventional futures exchanges. However, the rise of the "funded trader" model democratized this access, allowing talented individuals to manage simulated accounts and earn real payouts based on their performance, without risking personal life savings in traditional futures margin accounts.
Historically, most prop firms focused almost exclusively on foreign exchange (Forex) and indices. As digital assets matured, crypto-native firms entered the space, offering tokenized volatility around the clock. Kraken Prop’s entry into the market bridged a gap by providing a regulated exchange ecosystem’s reliability paired with prop trading incentives. Yet, until late 2026, a significant limitation remained: the absence of major commodities. Gold, in particular, has consistently ranked as the most heavily requested asset class by retail traders attempting to capitalize on geopolitical safe-haven flows and central bank reserve shifts. By integrating precious metals and energy markets, Kraken Prop has addressed this structural portfolio gap.
The Mechanics of the Kraken Prop Model
Understanding how Kraken Prop operates is essential for contextualizing the significance of this launch. The firm functions on a signal-provision and simulated-performance payout model. Traders do not hold direct physical or leveraged positions in the underlying global exchanges; rather, they submit trade signals, and any stated limits or account balances within the evaluation and funded phases are simulated. Despite the simulation layer, payouts disbursed to successful traders are real, funded by the proprietary capital of Payward Oceanic Ltd.
The newly introduced commodities—gold, silver, WTI oil, Brent oil, copper, and natural gas—are priced dynamically using institutional-grade index oracles. A critical structural advantage of this setup is the operational schedule: unlike traditional futures exchanges that close over the weekend and require traders to flatten positions on Friday afternoons, Kraken Prop’s commodity offerings trade on a 24/7 basis. This continuous liquidity model allows risk managers and trend-following traders to hold positions through weekend geopolitical gaps, mirroring the operational flexibility long enjoyed by crypto traders.
Geographical Reach and Exclusions
While the global rollout encompasses the vast majority of jurisdictions where Kraken Prop operates, regulatory frameworks have dictated certain localized exclusions. Notably, the six new commodity markets are available in all active regions except the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This carve-out aligns with the complex and stringent regulatory oversight governing financial promotions and derivative-like retail products within the UAE jurisdiction, where local licensing requirements often necessitate bespoke compliance structures that differ from broader international operations.
Detailed Breakdown of Leverage and Notional Caps
Risk management remains the core pillar of any proprietary trading firm, and Kraken Prop has instituted clear, structured parameters for each of the six new commodity markets. The platform distinguishes between the size of a funded account and the notional cap—the absolute maximum simulated position size a trader is permitted to hold in a specific market at any given time.
For traders utilizing standard evaluation and funded accounts (excluding Lite plans), the leverage and exposure limits are calibrated to match the volatility profiles of each specific raw material:
- Precious metals command robust liquidity, allowing for substantial notional exposure under controlled leverage parameters.
- Energy contracts, specifically WTI and Brent crude oil alongside natural gas, carry specific caps designed to mitigate the systemic risk of sudden intraday inventory shocks or geopolitical supply disruptions.
- Industrial metals such as copper are subject to tailored thresholds that reflect their distinct supply-chain sensitivities and historical volatility profiles.
For participants utilizing the entry-level Lite plan, all six commodities are fully accessible at up to 20x leverage. Crucially, existing commission structures for Lite users remain entirely unchanged, ensuring that onboarding tiers preserve their economic viability for smaller-scale participants. Payward Oceanic Ltd. has noted that all leverage and notional thresholds remain under continuous review and are subject to adjustment as market liquidity and risk metrics evolve.
Halving the Commission Structure on Non-Crypto Markets
Perhaps the most immediately impactful economic adjustment accompanying the launch is the structural reduction in trading costs. On all plans outside of the Lite tier, the commission rate for every non-crypto market has been reduced by 50%. The fee structure has dropped from 4 basis points (4bps) per side down to 2 basis points (2bps) per side.
Expressed mathematically, a commission of 2bps equates to 0.02% of the notional value each time a position is opened or closed. To contextualize this for active high-volume traders:
- Executing a simulated notional position of $100,000 previously incurred a $40 opening fee and a $40 closing fee, resulting in an $80 round-trip cost.
- Under the new 2bps fee schedule, the opening fee drops to $20 and the closing fee drops to $20, cutting the total round-trip cost to $40.
Importantly, this reduction is not restricted solely to the newly launched commodities. It applies equally to Kraken Prop’s existing index markets, specifically the S&P 500 and XYZ100 instruments. Crypto market commissions remain unchanged, as their fee schedules are tied to different liquidity provider agreements and network overheads.
Significantly, Kraken Prop applied this rate cut retroactively and universally across existing infrastructure. Traders who already hold active evaluations or funded accounts automatically inherit the new 2bps rate without needing to purchase new packages or execute administrative upgrades.
Consistency in Rules and Evaluation Framework
The expansion of tradable assets has not altered the foundational rulebook of Kraken Prop. The evaluation framework remains strictly defined, transparent, and immutable—avoiding the moving targets or ambiguous discretionary clauses that have occasionally drawn criticism toward lesser-known prop trading firms.
Participants must navigate a structured evaluation process governed by strict risk-management parameters, most notably a maximum drawdown limit. This drawdown threshold acts as a hard stop to verify that applicants possess the psychological discipline and risk controls necessary to handle institutional-scale capital. The firm maintains that the evaluation is intentionally rigorous to filter out undisciplined gambling behavior, aligning the interests of the prop firm with the long-term consistency of the trader.
Market Implications and Industry Analysis
From a broader industry perspective, Kraken Prop’s latest move signals an ongoing convergence between traditional multi-asset brokerages and crypto-native financial infrastructure. Historically, crypto exchanges attempting to branch into traditional finance faced structural hurdles regarding liquidity aggregation and risk management. By utilizing robust index oracles and maintaining strict notional caps, Kraken Prop has demonstrated that 24/7 synthetic commodity trading can be successfully scaled for retail audiences.
The fee reduction further intensifies competition within the proprietary trading sector. As more firms vie for skilled algorithmic and discretionary traders, cost efficiency becomes a primary differentiator. Lowering transaction costs by half directly improves a trader’s profit factor, making the hurdle of passing evaluations and achieving consistent net profitability significantly more achievable.
Disclaimer and Risk Warnings
As with all proprietary trading services, participation involves substantial financial risk. Kraken Prop operates as an unregulated service, and the evaluation program is designed explicitly to test risk-management capability before any proprietary capital is allocated by Payward Oceanic Ltd. Statistical metrics within the industry indicate that the vast majority of applicants fail to pass evaluations on their initial attempt, and past performance in simulated environments offers no guarantee of future success.
Evaluation fees are strictly non-refundable once trading has commenced, regardless of the ultimate outcome. Prospective participants are repeatedly advised by industry analysts to engage with such programs only if they possess proven, backtested trading strategies and are fully prepared to absorb the financial loss of the evaluation fee should they fail to meet the platform’s stringent risk parameters.
