Kraken has secured fresh funding at a $15 billion valuation, boosting its war chest as it eyes a 2026 initial public offering.
Summary
According to a Sept. 25 Fortune report, the round closed this month without a single lead investor, with Kraken itself setting the terms. Participants included investment managers, venture capitalists, and CEO Arjun Sethi’s Tribe Capital, as well as Sethi in a personal capacity.
The exchange, founded in 2011, has now raised over $527 million in total funding, following its initial $27 million investment.
The funding round comes as Kraken prepares for a public listing, now expected in 2026. Investors were drawn to the company’s steady profitability. It reported $411 million in revenue and nearly $80 million in post-EBITDA earnings in the second quarter.
Kraken’s valuation places it among the industry’s most valuable private exchanges, second only to Coinbase. The firm has been expanding through acquisitions, including the $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader earlier this year, which added two million customers. It has also rolled out new products such as tokenized stocks, or “xStocks,” aimed at bridging crypto with traditional markets.
Since cofounder Jesse Powell left his position as CEO of Kraken in 2022, Sethi has played a key role in leading the company. The co-founder of Tribe Capital and venture capitalist has stressed the importance of establishing Kraken as a center for tokenized assets and institutional trading.
Under his direction, Kraken has entered the retail market and increased the scope of its institutional offerings, such as advanced APIs and derivatives. But the shift has also been accompanied by executive turnover and internal restructuring, which have sparked worries about morale and management style.
Kraken’s funding comes amid a resurgence of cryptocurrency IPOs, with Circle, Gemini, and Bullish having already listed this year. The company’s choice to hold off until 2026, however, raises questions because a change in the market cycle could reduce investor interest in cryptocurrency stocks.
Analysts note that Kraken’s established reputation and diversified revenue sources put it in a stronger position than many of its rivals to weather volatility. The $500 million round shows that investors remain confident as the exchange prepares for its next phase of growth.
