Kraken Eyes New Generation of US Derivatives With $100M Deal

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has expanded its derivatives trading offering in its home jurisdiction through a new acquisition.

Kraken has acquired designated contract market maker (DCM) Small Exchange from trading firm IG Group for $100 million, the company announced Thursday.

The DCM, granted by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allows Kraken to build an exchange-listed derivatives market in the U.S. through acquisitions of smaller exchanges.

“With the CFTC’s oversight, Kraken is now able to consolidate clearing, risk and matching into one environment that meets the same standards as the world’s largest exchanges,” said Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken.

Integrated cryptocurrency trading platform

The acquisition of Small Exchange advances Kraken’s mission to build an integrated trading platform and lays the foundation for a “new generation of U.S. derivatives markets.”

The CFTC-approved DCM will help Kraken connect spot, futures and margin trading products within a single regulated liquidity system, reducing fragmentation and increasing the speed of trade execution, Sethi said.

The move is also part of a larger effort targeting global derivatives infrastructure, including Kraken’s derivatives platforms in the UK and European Union.

“These elements work together to create a network that moves collateral in real time, nets exposure across jurisdictions, and reduces capital inefficiencies that have long held back U.S. traders,” the co-CEOs said.

Kraken bets on derivatives market

Kraken’s acquisition of Small Exchange is not Kraken’s first move into the U.S. derivatives market. In July, the exchange acquired futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion and launched a derivatives platform for U.S. traders.

The acquisition of NinjaTrader, announced in March 2025, allows Kraken to offer Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)-listed crypto futures alongside spot crypto products in a unified interface.

The expansion of derivatives products is consistent with Kraken’s multi-year commitment to the derivatives market, including the acquisition of UK-based derivatives platform Crypto Facilities in 2019.

Related: Hyperliquid now allows anyone to deploy perpetual futures for a fee

In May 2025, Kraken began trading derivatives in the European Union (EU) in accordance with the local cryptocurrency derivatives-related framework, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).

Cryptocurrency derivatives are on the rise

Kraken’s continued efforts to create a new generation of crypto derivatives comes as the derivatives sector continues to gain momentum towards spot trading on centralized exchanges (CEX).

While spot trading volumes reportedly plummeted by as much as 22% in the second quarter of 2025, derivatives were more resilient, falling by around 4% to total $20.2 trillion.

The global derivatives market has grown explosively in recent months and is expected to reach $23 trillion by the end of 2025, according to Mark Jennings, head of Europe at Winklevoss’ cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.

With derivatives emerging as a major crypto trend in 2025, major derivatives platforms and CEXs are rushing to expand their offerings.

In early October, CME Group announced that it would expand its services to offer full-time trading of crypto derivatives starting in 2026.

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US by trading volume, is also actively expanding into derivatives with the acquisition of Deribit in May.