Kraken doubles down on US futures with $100M ‘Small’ acquisition

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Cryptocurrency speech Kraken has expanded its derivatives trading offering successful its location jurisdiction done a caller acquisition.

Kraken has acquired Small Exchange, a designated declaration marketplace shaper (DCM) from the trading institution IG Group, for $100 million, the institution announced Thursday.

With the DCM being licensed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Small Exchange, the acquisition officially authorizes Kraken to physique markets for exchange-listed derivatives successful the US.

“Under CFTC oversight, Kraken tin present integrate clearing, risk, and matching into 1 situation that meets the aforesaid standards arsenic the largest exchanges successful the world,” Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said.

Unified crypto trading platform

The Small Exchange acquisition advances Kraken’s ngo to physique a unified trading platform, creating a instauration for a “new procreation of US derivatives markets.”

The CFTC-licensed DCM helps Kraken link spot, futures and borderline trading products wrong a azygous regulated liquidity system, reducing fragmentation and expanding the velocity of commercialized execution, Sethi said.

The determination is besides portion of a larger effort targeting planetary derivatives infrastructure, including Kraken’s derivatives platforms successful the United Kingdom and the European Union.

“Together, these elements make a web that moves collateral successful existent time, nets vulnerability crossed jurisdictions, and reduces superior inefficiencies that person agelong held backmost US traders,” the co-CEO noted.

Kraken bets connected derivatives markets

Kraken’s Small Exchange acquisition is not the archetypal determination by Kraken into derivatives markets successful the US. The speech launched a derivatives level for US traders successful July done a $1.5 cardinal acquisition of the futures trading level NinjaTrader.

Announced successful March 2025, the NinjaTrader acquisition enabled Kraken to connection Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)-listed crypto futures, alongside spot crypto products successful a unified interface.

The enlargement of derivatives products comes successful enactment with Kraken’s multi-year committedness successful derivatives markets, including the acquisition of UK-based derivatives level Crypto Facilities successful 2019.

In May 2025, Kraken launched derivatives trading successful the European Union successful compliance with the section crypto derivatives-related framework, Markets successful Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).

Crypto derivatives inclination rising

Kraken’s ongoing efforts successful creating a caller procreation of crypto derivatives travel amid the derivatives conception holding momentum against spot trading connected centralized exchanges (CEXs).

While spot trading volumes reportedly plummeted arsenic overmuch arsenic 22% successful the 2nd 4th of 2025, derivatives were much resilient, experiencing a diminution of astir 4% and totaling $20.2 trillion.

According to Mark Jennings, caput of Europe astatine Winklevoss’s crypto speech Gemini, the planetary derivatives marketplace has exploded successful caller months and is expected to deed $23 trillion by the extremity of 2025.

With derivatives emerging arsenic a cardinal inclination successful crypto successful 2025, large derivatives platforms and CEXs person been rushing to grow their products.

In aboriginal October, CME Group said it volition grow its services to connection always-on trading for crypto derivatives starting successful 2026.

Coinbase, the largest US crypto speech by trading volumes, has besides been actively expanding into derivatives with the Deribit acquisition successful May.

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