Kraken Set to Raise Major Investment Ahead of IPO in 2026
Date: 2025-07-31 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
US-based centralized crypto exchange Kraken is currently in talks to raise around $500 million at a $15 billion valuation. According to The Information, Kraken previously discussed raising up to $1 billion in debt with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to prepare for an initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for early 2026.
The funds planned to be raised during the current funding round will be used to expand the exchange’s operations. The option of raising capital in parallel through the sale of shares is also being considered. However, the names of the key investors and the exact timing of the deal’s completion have not yet been disclosed. It is also unknown whether there will be secondary sales of shares.
In October 2024, Kraken reshuffled its leadership, with Arjun Sethi, co-founder of Tribe Capital, becoming co-CEO of the company. Kraken’s financial results have been impressive, with revenue reaching $1.5 billion in 2024 and $471.7 million in Q1 2025.
In May 2025, Kraken acquired futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. The purchase expanded the exchange’s capabilities by giving its clients access to traditional derivatives in the US market. Also that month, Kraken teamed up with tokenized securities issuer Backed and the Solana Foundation to launch xStocks. xStocks offers investors tokenized US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) built on the Solana blockchain.
In July, Kraken unveiled a brokerage platform aimed at institutional crypto clients and announced support for seamless Bitcoin staking in partnership with DeFi protocol Babylon. The exchange also received a MiCA license from the Central Bank of Ireland, giving it the right to offer regulated services to residents of 30 countries in the European Economic Area.
Kraken is not the only crypto company preparing to go public. Other contenders for an IPO include asset manager Grayscale, custodian BitGo, and the Bullish exchange. In June 2025, Circle, a stablecoin company USDC, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL, and later applied for a banking license.
Thus, Kraken is actively preparing for the upcoming IPO, expanding its product line and strengthening its position in the market in order to attract the necessary investment for further growth.
