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Late Thursday, 
Kraken announced its $100M acquisition of Small Exchange, a CFTC-licensed Designated Contract Market (DCM), as part of its ongoing expansion into regulated derivatives trading in the United States. The purchase lays the groundwork for Kraken to offer a full suite of onshore crypto derivatives products under direct CFTC supervision, a first for the exchange’s U.S. operations.
What’s the Scoop?
- Strategic Expansion: Small Exchange, purchased from IG Group, will provide Kraken with a regulated foundation to launch a fully compliant derivatives venue in the world’s largest capital market. DCM licensees can also design, list, and operate futures and options markets across crypto and traditional assets.
- Unified Trading Stack: The acquisition aims to help Kraken build a “unified, high-performance trading environment" by connecting spot, futures, and margin products into a single liquidity system, reducing latency, funding fragmentation, and cross-venue capital inefficiencies.
- Onshore Derivatives Growth: Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi emphasized that the firm's U.S. derivatives expansion will bring the speed and sophistication of offshore venues back under U.S. regulatory jurisdiction. “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,” he said.
- Global Infrastructure Buildout: Kraken now operates regulated derivatives venues across the United Kingdom, European Union, and United States, with a system that spans six fiat currencies and more than 450 digital and traditional assets.
- Track Record of Acquisitions: This deal follows Kraken’s acquisition of NinjaTrader earlier this year, which enabled clients to trade CME-listed crypto futures alongside spot assets in one interface. It also builds on prior acquisitions of Crypto Facilities in the U.K. and recent MiFID II-compliant derivatives expansions in Europe.
Major step in Kraken’s market structure journey. Acquiring a CFTC-regulated venue adds yet another piece to our global architecture. More financial market access on the way for the US.https://t.co/kVqBGsPc2P
— Dave Ripley (@DavidLRipley) October 16, 2025
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