Kraken has been around long enough to see nearly every version of the crypto market up close.
Founded in 2011, it lived through Bitcoin’s early volatility, the first big exchange era, the ICO boom, the long bear markets, the rise of institutional crypto, and the latest push into tokenized and multi-asset trading.
Across those cycles, Kraken kept adding products, expanding its reach, and finding new ways to stay relevant as the industry changed around it.
In March 2025, Kraken agreed to buy NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. In April 2025, it launched trading in more than 11,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs for select U.S. clients. In June 2025, it rolled out xStocks for eligible non-U.S. clients, starting with 60 tokenized U.S. equities, and launched Krak, a payments app supporting transfers across more than 160 countries and 300-plus assets.
The company kept building through the second half of 2025 with deals for Capitalise.ai, Breakout, Small Exchange, and Backed, then added Magna in February 2026 and Bitnomial soon after. By early 2026, Kraken was pushing further into tokenized equities as xStocks expanded from 60 at launch to 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs.
Let’s take a closer look at how Kraken has been building through this latest phase of the market.
NinjaTrader and regulated finance
The NinjaTrader deal in March 2025 gave Kraken a serious foothold in U.S. regulated futures.
Kraken valued the transaction at $1.5 billion and described NinjaTrader as the leading U.S. retail futures platform.
A few months later, Kraken used that foothold to launch U.S. regulated crypto futures and said it planned to add commodity, fixed income, FX, and equity futures later in 2025.
This gave Kraken a direct route into one of the main markets active traders use for hedging and directional bets.
Small Exchange gave Kraken a U.S. venue
Kraken pushed further in October 2025 when it bought Small Exchange from IG Group for $100 million. Importantly, Small Exchange came with a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market license.
Kraken said the purchase would help it launch a fully U.S.-native derivatives suite. Reuters reported the same deal as a move to strengthen Kraken’s American derivatives business for retail and institutional clients.
This put Kraken closer to the center of the U.S. futures market.
Backed and tokenized equities
Kraken’s tokenized equity push became far more serious in 2025.
Reuters reported on May 22, 2025, that Kraken planned to offer tokenized versions of more than 50 U.S. stocks and ETFs, including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, to non-U.S. clients.
Kraken formally launched tokenized U.S. equities on June 30, 2025 with 60 assets on the platform.
On December 2, 2025, it announced the acquisition of Backed, the company behind xStocks, saying the deal would bring issuance, trading, and settlement closer together.
By March 18, 2026, Kraken said xStocks had grown to 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs and had surpassed $25 billion in total transaction volume since launch. That growth soon fed into a partnership with Nasdaq, announced through Kraken parent Payward, focused on developing an equities transformation gateway for tokenized equities and helping connect regulated market structure with on-chain distribution.
Magna took Kraken into token operations
In February 2026, Payward, the platform behind Kraken, acquired Magna.
Kraken described Magna as a token management platform used for vesting, claims, distributions, and related workflows.
Magna will keep operating as a standalone product, though Kraken also said it will be deeply integrated.
This gives Kraken a place in the day-to-day work of token teams, not just the trading venue where assets change hands after launch.
Capitalise.ai and Breakout
Kraken also used acquisitions to widen the kinds of traders it can serve.
In August 2025, it bought Capitalise.ai, a no-code automation platform that turns plain-language prompts into trading strategies and backtests.
In September 2025, it acquired Breakout, a prop trading platform that offers up to $200,000 in trading capital, with users keeping up to 90% of profits according to Kraken’s materials.
These additions fit a platform trying to keep more of the trader workflow inside one account, from idea generation to automation to funded execution.
Krak linked payments
Krak shows how Kraken wants to connect markets with everyday money movement.
Reuters reported on June 26, 2025 that the app launched in more than 100 countries for crypto and fiat transfers.
Kraken’s own product pages later put the figure at more than 160 countries and said users could transact across 300-plus assets. The company also said physical and virtual cards were planned.
This gives Kraken a consumer payments product sitting next to trading, tokenized equities, and derivatives rather than outside them.
Bitnomial adds another U.S. derivatives layer
In April 2026, Kraken parent Payward announced the acquisition of Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange and clearinghouse. The deal adds another regulated U.S. futures asset to Kraken’s portfolio and expands its ability to serve traders who want futures access inside American market structure.
A one-platform financial business
Let’s go through the list once more.
- NinjaTrader opened the door to U.S. regulated futures.
- Small Exchange added a licensed venue.
- Backed brought xStocks in-house.
- Magna added token administration tools.
- Capitalise.ai and Breakout served more active traders.
- Krak brought payments into the same product family.
- Bitnomial added another U.S. regulated derivatives venue and clearing capability.
Kraken also launched U.S.-listed stock and ETF trading in April 2025, giving select U.S. users access to more than 11,000 equities on the same platform.
The legal side is worth noting too. In Europe, Kraken now operates through MiCA-regulated entities and also holds a MiFID II license. Those approvals give the company stronger footing across the EEA as it expands trading, payments, tokenized equities, and related services.
There is also a major U.S. regulatory angle. Kraken said in March 2026 it became the first digital asset firm with a Federal Reserve master account. Direct access to the U.S. payments system adds another serious piece to its financial-services buildout.
Acquisitions can assemble the parts quickly, but users and institutions will judge the result by whether those parts work well together. Kraken now has trading, payments, token operations, tokenized equities, and multiple regulated derivatives assets. The next phase is proving that this collection functions like one platform.
