Kraken announced the acquisition of crypto-native proprietary trading firm Breakout on Thursday — a platform enabling traders to earn payments for successfully deploying their strategies at scale — less than two years after its launch.
Completed on Sept. 1, the acquisition expands the crypto exchange's product suite for advanced traders. Breakout provides users with access to up to $100,000 in notional capital per account or up to $200,000 across multiple accounts, after completing an evaluation process, with no personal trading capital required. However, participants must purchase and pass an assessment while adhering to predefined drawdown limits. Those who meet the requirements receive a funded account and can keep up to 90% of the profits they generate, with payouts available on demand.
"Breakout gives us a way to allocate capital based on proof of skill rather than access to capital itself," Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a statement. "Breakout's evaluation first model is designed to verify risk discipline, strategy consistency, and real market decision making under pressure. This is not simulation for simulation's sake. It is a filter for scalable signal. This is how modern capital platforms should work. Transparent, programmable, and open to anyone with an edge."
Breakout was founded by crypto industry veterans TraderMayne, CryptoCred, Alex Miningham, and Abetrade in 2023, enabling traders to develop strategies across a selection of more than 50 crypto pairs, with up to 5x leverage available on BTC and ETH contracts. Breakout will be integrated directly into the Kraken Pro platform for eligible users over time.
"Breakout gives traders a performance-based starting point. Kraken delivers the scale and tools to grow. Together, both companies form a unified ecosystem that supports the full trader journey from education through independent capital deployment," Breakout co-founder and CEO Alex Miningham said.
'You can just do things'
Reflecting on the journey from starting to build Breakout in a Telegram chat group two years ago to its acquisition by Kraken, "you can just do things," CryptoCred posted on X.
"I thought we were gonna flop because [Crypto Twitter] was so negative at launch," he added in another post. "So I just decided to work and not tweet about it despite Breakout taking up most of my waking hours. And here we are," echoing sentiments from TraderMayne, Miningham, and Abetrade.
Rising crypto mergers and acquisitions
The move reflects a sharp rise in mergers and acquisitions across the crypto industry this year, fueled by a more positive regulatory environment under the Trump administration in the U.S., market consolidation, and a drive to scale infrastructure.
Kraken also agreed to acquire U.S. retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in March — the largest-ever such deal between crypto and traditional finance, the firm said at the time. Other high-profile deals this year include Coinbase's record $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, Robinhood's $200 million takeover of Bitstamp, and Ripple's $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road.
