Kraken’s IPO filing arrives days after its co-CEO said the company was not rushing.
Kraken has confidentially filed a Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO).
The filing places the Wyoming-based crypto exchange in the SEC’s review process at a time when the regulator has only recently returned to full operations following a 43-day government shutdown.
Confidential IPO Filing
Despite being its first formal step toward going public, Kraken has yet to comment on the filing, either on its social channels or through a press release. It had previously downplayed the urgency of going public. In fact, just last week, its co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that the exchange was not in a rush to pursue a listing. Industry chatter about an IPO has circulated since 2024, but Wednesday’s disclosure marks the first concrete action from the exchange.
Kraken now joins a growing list of crypto firms pursuing public listings since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Trading platforms Bullish and Gemini listed their shares on major exchanges in August and September, respectively. Additionally, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle also completed a major offering in June and raised just over $1 billion.
The latest development came hours after Kraken announced securing $800 million in new funding through two separate tranches as it works to build out its on-chain financial infrastructure and expand globally. The first and larger tranche was backed by major institutional investors such as Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, HSG, Oppenheimer Alternative Investment Management, and Tribe Capital, along with a contribution from Sethi’s family office.
The company also signed a separate agreement for a $200 million strategic investment from Citadel Securities, which valued Kraken at $20 billion. The exchange reported $1.5 billion in revenue in 2024 and said it has already surpassed that amount in the first nine months of 2025.
Before this raise, Kraken had secured $27 million in primary capital. Kraken disclosed that the new partnership with Citadel Securities will focus on liquidity provision, risk management, and market structure input. The funds will also be used to support expansion across Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA, and help the company expand its offerings into new asset classes, advanced trading tools, staking, payments, and institutional services.
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Expansion So Far
In March, Kraken acquired NinjaTrader, a retail futures trading platform, for $1.5 billion as part of its push into multiple asset classes and user growth. The company later launched its regulated crypto derivatives offering in Europe in May, supported by a Cyprus license obtained earlier in the year.
In October, Kraken continued its expansion by purchasing the Small Exchange from IG Group.
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