Kraken to acquire US retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in largest-ever crypto and tradfi deal

Crypto exchange Kraken has entered into an agreement to acquire U.S. retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion — the largest-ever such deal between crypto and traditional finance, the firm said.

Subject to certain purchase price adjustments, the acquisition would position Kraken, which claims to serve 15 million users globally, as a 24/7 platform for both traditional and crypto futures trading, alongside its spot crypto and other services. The deal also accelerates Kraken's multi-asset-class ambitions, which include plans for equities trading and payments, the firm noted in a Thursday blog post .

"Traditional markets run on post-WWII, 1950s banking systems, exchanges that close at 4 p.m. ET and settlement delays that take days to resolve," Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said. "Crypto rails fixed these issues, operating with efficient and real-time infrastructure. But legacy finance and crypto have remained separate ecosystems, until today. This transaction is the first step in our vision of an institutional-grade trading platform where any asset can be traded, anytime."

What is NinjaTrader?

Founded in 2003, NinjaTrader provides advanced futures trading tools to nearly two million traders and operates as a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant. Following the deal, Kraken gains access to U.S. crypto futures and derivatives while also facilitating NinjaTrader's expansion globally with Kraken's licenses in the U.K., EU and Australia. Clients will have access to multi-asset trading, including crypto, futures and traditional financial products, combining Kraken's crypto liquidity and NinjaTrader's futures tools, analytics and execution engines, the firm said.

"NinjaTrader's mission has been to redefine retail futures trading, making it more accessible, cost-effective and trader-friendly," NinjaTrader CEO Marty Franchi said in a separate statement . "Together, Kraken and NinjaTrader will power the integration of traditional markets with crypto by offering cutting edge tools and the ability to rapidly move across asset classes that the most sophisticated traders demand."

NinjaTrader, majority backed by Long Ridge Equity Partners, will continue to operate as a standalone platform under Kraken's suite of applications, the company confirmed, building on its prior integrations of real-time analytics service Cryptowatch, index provider CF Benchmarks and staking infrastructure operator Staked.

The Wall Street Journal initially reported Kraken and NinjaTrader were nearing a deal on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

In October, payments giant Stripe acquired the stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, in what was the largest crypto acquisition deal at the time.

Kraken's acquisition of NinjaTrader is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.