Kraken Acquires CFTC-Licensed Exchange in a $100M Deal
Crypto change Kraken has introduced the acquisition of Small Exchange, a US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-licensed Designated Contract Market (DCM), from IG Group for $100 million.
The acquisition expands Kraken’s rising world infrastructure, which now consists of regulated derivatives venues in the UK, European Union, and the US. Its unified buying and selling system helps six fiat currencies and greater than 450 digital and conventional belongings, working inside a single platform structure.
US Derivatives Push
According to the official press launch, the most recent deal is a crucial step towards Kraken’s purpose of launching a totally US-based derivatives product suite, in a bid to strengthen its presence in the world’s largest capital market. The change has now secured a DCM license, which is able to allow it to design and function exchange-listed derivatives markets in the United States underneath CFTC oversight.
This transfer follows a collection of strategic developments in Kraken’s derivatives enterprise. Earlier in 2025, the corporate acquired NinjaTrader, a main US futures buying and selling platform, permitting American shoppers to commerce CME-listed cryptocurrency futures alongside spot crypto. In October, Kraken expanded these choices to incorporate contracts throughout equities, overseas change indices, and commodities resembling oil and gold.
The acquisition of Small Exchange continues Kraken’s long-term funding in the derivatives sector. Since 2019, the corporate has acquired and constructed a number of regulated entities, together with Crypto Facilities in the UK, which operates underneath the FCA’s oversight and not too long ago launched Europe’s largest regulated crypto futures providing underneath the MiFID II framework.
Commenting on the acquisition, the crypto change’s co-CEO, Arjun Sethi, said,
“This step connects spot, futures, and margin merchandise inside a single regulated liquidity system, decreasing fragmentation, decreasing funding latency, and bringing onshore the type of entry and efficiency that has largely existed offshore. Under CFTC oversight, Kraken can now combine clearing, danger, and matching into one atmosphere that meets the identical requirements as the most important exchanges in the world.”
Key Developments So Far
Kraken posted $412 million in income for the second quarter of 2025, up 18% from a yr earlier however down 13% from Q1. The change’s adjusted EBITDA, nevertheless, slipped 7% to $79.7 million as buying and selling exercise slowed resulting from seasonal weak point and world market uncertainty tied to US tariffs through the interval.
Despite that, Kraken’s complete change quantity grew 19% year-over-year to $186.8 billion. Meanwhile, funded accounts rose 37% to 4.4 million, and platform belongings elevated 47% to $43.2 billion. It additionally gained floor in spot buying and selling, with stablecoin-fiat buying and selling volumes leaping from 43% to 68%.
Last month, Kraken completed a $500 million funding spherical at a $15 billion valuation, forward of its 2026 IPO. The increase was self-structured and backed by Tribe Capital, Sethi, and different traders. The change has now raised $527 million general.
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