Kraken Buys Breakout, Offering Traders Access to $200K in Trading Capital

TLDR

• Kraken acquired Breakout, a platform that provides traders with up to $200,000 in capital
• The acquisition follows Kraken’s $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader in May 2025
• Breakout’s platform supports over 50 crypto trading pairs including leveraged BTC and ETH contracts
• Traders can keep up to 90% of their profits on the Breakout platform
• Kraken plans to integrate Breakout into its Kraken Pro platform

Kraken, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, has acquired Breakout, a proprietary trading platform that provides capital to traders based on their skills. The announcement came on Thursday, marking another step in Kraken’s expansion into trading infrastructure.

Breakout, founded in 2023 and based in Tampa, Florida, offers traders access to up to $200,000 in capital after they pass a thorough evaluation process. The platform tests traders on their risk management abilities and strategy discipline before allocating funds.

Traders using the Breakout platform can retain up to 90% of their profits, making it an attractive option for those who have trading skills but lack personal capital. The platform currently supports more than 50 cryptocurrency trading pairs, including leveraged contracts on Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Incredibly excited to share that Breakout has been acquired by @krakenfx. In under 19 months since launch, Breakout has quickly evolved into the leading evaluation-based prop platform for crypto traders globally. https://t.co/XXjj24bKEK

— Alex (@unclesendit) September 4, 2025

How Proprietary Trading Works

Proprietary trading, often called “prop trading,” allows traders to use a company’s funds instead of their own. The profits from these trades are shared between the trader and the company providing the capital.

In the case of Breakout, the platform awards capital based on demonstrated trading skills rather than personal connections or access to wealth. Traders must first prove their abilities through a rigorous evaluation process.

The platform offers 5x leverage on Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts. However, traders must maintain certain performance standards or face retesting if they breach drawdown thresholds set by the company.

Kraken’s Expansion Strategy

The financial terms of the Breakout acquisition were not disclosed. However, we know that Breakout raised $4.5 million in seed funding in 2024 before being acquired by Kraken.

This purchase follows Kraken’s larger acquisition of NinjaTrader, a US-based futures and trading software platform, for $1.5 billion in May 2025. These moves align with Kraken’s push into trading infrastructure and traditional finance tools.

“Breakout gives us a way to allocate capital based on proof of skill rather than access to capital itself,” said Arjun Sethi, Kraken’s co-CEO. “In a world that is rapidly shifting from who you know to what you know, we want to build systems that reward demonstrated performance, not pedigree.”

Kraken plans to eventually integrate Breakout’s services into Kraken Pro. This integration will allow Kraken to offer performance-based products to its users, expanding its service offerings beyond simple cryptocurrency exchange.

The move into proprietary trading puts Kraken in line with other crypto firms like Jump Crypto and DRW’s Cumberland, which deploy their own capital in digital assets. The sector has seen growing interest from both institutional and retail-focused platforms.

Kraken has been expanding its services in other ways too. The company now offers stocks and exchange-traded fund trading in certain US states. These developments come as the company reportedly plans to go public, possibly as early as 2026.

If successful, Kraken would become the second US-based crypto exchange to trade publicly, following Coinbase’s Nasdaq listing in April 2021. A Kraken spokesperson confirmed to Decrypt earlier this year that the company intends to go public.

The recent changes in the US regulatory environment have been favorable for cryptocurrency companies. In late March, the US Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed enforcement actions against Kraken and other crypto firms, filing joint stipulations to drop the cases with prejudice.

Kraken’s acquisition of Breakout represents the company’s vision for modern capital platforms. According to Sethi, “By integrating Breakout into Kraken, we are building an infrastructure layer where traders can earn their way into size, deploy capital with minimal friction, and get paid on merit.”