Crypto company Kraken has stated it has acquired futures exchange Small Exchange from IG Group for $100 million, paving the way to launch a fully U.S.-based derivatives suite. Small Exchange is a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-licensed (CFTC) designated contract market, giving Kraken a regulated venue to offer futures and options to both retail and institutional clients.
“Under CFTC oversight, Kraken can now integrate clearing, risk and matching into one environment that meets the same standards as the largest exchanges in the world,” Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken said in a statement.
Kraken also said that by “securing the necessary licensing and infrastructure today, Kraken is laying the groundwork for institutional-grade markets as crypto matures.” This deal comes amid a more-crypto friendly regulatory tone, with President Donald Trump encouraging digital asset firms to expand in the United States with promises of clearer rules.
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Trump has been positioning himself as a “crypto-friendly” president, ushering in the “golden age of crypto.” Earlier this year, he had appointed a group to further this purpose, by recommending policies on crypto markets called on federal regulators to use their authority to provide more clear rules on the trading of digital assets and ease the adoption of new financial products.
On Jan. 23, Trump signed Executive Order 14178, titled “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” halting previous efforts to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and creating the president’s “Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.” The group was tasked with developing a comprehensive federal regulatory framework for digital assets. Trump also announced the creation of the U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve, including major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano.
The derivatives market is now drawing digital asset firms looking for liquidity and risk management. The trillion-dollar crypto market has moved beyond spot trading with exchanges and investors seeking institutional-grade tools such as futures, options and tokenized assets.
This comes weeks after Kraken closed its $500 million funding round. Kraken, which was founded in 2011, recently came into the spotlight with high-profile acquisitions — including of U.S. futures platform NinjaTrader — and product launches ahead of an IPO planned for next year. The latest funding round valued the company at $15 billion. Backers included investment managers, venture capitalists and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, who also participated via his Tribe Capital investment firm.
Kraken has also recently seen a wave of executive turnover with four senior executives recently leaving the company as it cut down on jobs ahead of the planned initial public offering.