Kraken has stepped into proprietary trading with the acquisition of Breakout, a Tampa, Florida startup that backs traders with capital.
In a Thursday announcement, crypto exchange Kraken announced the acquisition of Breakout, a startup that backs traders with up to $200,000 in capital under a “rigorous evaluation” methodology that tests risk management and strategy discipline.
“Breakout gives us a way to allocate capital based on proof of skill rather than access to capital itself… We want to build systems that reward demonstrated performance, not pedigree,” Kraken’s co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a statement.
Proprietary or prop trading is when traders use a company’s capital rather than their own, with profits shared between the two. Traders on Breakout’s platform can keep up to 90% of their profits, the company said.
Launched in 2023, the platform supports more than 50 crypto trading pairs, including leveraged contracts on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Breakout raised $4.5 million in seed funding in 2024, and will eventually be integrated into Kraken Pro as part of the exchange’s push into trading infrastructure.
The move also follows Kraken’s acquisition of NinjaTrader, a US-based futures and trading software platform, in May 2025 for $1.5 billion.
After the 2008 financial crisis, US banks were restricted from proprietary trading, pushing activity to independent market makers and companies like Citadel Securities, Jane Street and Jump Trading.
Prop trading has also taken root in the crypto sector. Firms like Jump Crypto, a division of Jump Trading, and DRW’s Cumberland deploy their own capital in digital assets, including through market-making activities. Meanwhile, retail-focused platforms such as Crypto Fund Trader, HyroTrader and Breakout offer evaluation-based accounts to let traders access capital.
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Exchanges are busy making TradFi acquisitions
Crypto exchanges have been acquiring companies and products to expand their offerings of traditional finance tools.
In May, Coinbase closed a $2.9 billion deal to acquire Deribit, the derivatives exchange. It was one of largest mergers in the sector to date, giving Coinbase a significant foothold in derivatives trading.
That same month, Crypto.com secured approval from Cyprus regulators after acquiring A.N. Allnew Investments Ltd. This move granted it a MiFID license to offer regulated securities and derivatives across the European Economic Area.
On Tuesday, Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck announced plans to acquire Aplo, a Paris-based regulated digital asset brokerage for institutions. The deals gives Coincheck a foothold in Europe’s regulated markets.
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