- Kraken nears $1.5B deal to acquire NinjaTrader and expand U.S. crypto futures offerings.
- The acquisition will give Kraken access to NinjaTrader’s 1.8 million retail investor base.
- Kraken’s strong 2024 financials and legal win positions it for further global expansion.
Kraken is moving closer to sealing one of its biggest acquisitions. The crypto exchange is reportedly finalizing a $1.5 billion deal to acquire NinjaTrader, a U.S. retail futures trading platform. As per the sources, the agreement could be announced on March 20.
The acquisition would allow Kraken to offer crypto futures and derivatives in the United States. NinjaTrader holds a Futures Commission Merchant license, which enables futures trading under U.S. regulations.
Kraken aims to expand its services across asset classes, including equities and payments. It plans to keep NinjaTrader as a standalone platform. However, NinjaTrader will now expand into the UK, Europe, and Australia, backed by Kraken’s licenses. Kraken’s Electronic Money Institution license for the UK and MiFID license for the EU will help support this growth.
The deal will also help Kraken increase its customer base in the U.S. Kraken currently operates 2.5 million funded accounts. It generated $1.5 billion in revenue and $665 billion in trading volume in 2024. The exchange holds $42.8 billion in assets, according to its January 31 financial report.
Related: Financial Firms Eye Banks as Trump Shakes Up Regulations
The acquisition comes after Kraken resolved a major legal issue. On March 3 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed its lawsuit against Kraken. The SEC previously accused the exchange of operating as an unregistered broker, dealer, exchange, and clearing agency. The case ended with no penalties, no admission of wrongdoing, and no changes to Kraken’s operations.
Kraken continues to strengthen its position in the crypto industry. On March 19, Kraken announced that it ranked third in Kaiko’s Q1 2025 exchange rankings. This is an improvement from seventh place last year.
Founded in 2011 by Thanh Luu, Michael Gronager, and Jesse Powell, Kraken remains one of the largest crypto exchanges globally. It has consistently ranked among the top ten exchanges by trading volume. Recent CoinMarketCap data shows Kraken is currently the 10th largest exchange by volume. The exchange handles between $390 million and $4.4 billion in daily trades over the past three months.
