Kraken Could Be Next Crypto Broker to Enter Prediction Markets
Posted on: December 26, 2025, 02:38h.
Last updated on: December 26, 2025, 02:38h.
- The cyrptocurrency brokerage house is planning a 2026 prediction markets push.
- It obtained the related licensing via an October acquisition.
- Kraken would join several rivals in prediction markets space.
Industry observers positioning 2026 prediction markets bingo cards ought to ensure they’ve got Kraken on their lists because it appears likely the cryptocurrency brokerage firm will enter the space in the new year.
Mark Greenberg, Kraken’s global head of consumer, made comments to that effect in a Wednesday interview with CNBC, noting prediction markets enjoyed a big year in 2025 and next year could bring further expansion of that trend.
(Prediction markets are) a way to take information and alpha and your opinions on what’s going to change in the world and be able to prove that end,” Greenberg told CNBC.
He said Kraken is looking forward to bringing prediction markets to its customers in the new year, calling it a “fantastic opportunity” for the firm’s clients to trade more and have greater access to new trading vehicles.
Kraken Prediction Market Entry Well-Telegraphed
It’s not surprising Kraken is targeting prediction markets. In October, the company acquired Small Exchange from IG Group for $100 million, providing the buyer with the licensing needed to offer event contracts in the US.
Several Kraken leveraged similar acquisitions to pave their ways into the prediction markets industry because those deals are often more efficient than waiting on regulatory approval for the related permits. Small Exchange is a designated contract market (DCM) licensed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — designations necessary for companies to offer exchange-listed derivatives, including yes/no event contracts, in the US.
Greenberg told CNBC Kraken is optimistic on the “connections between prediction markets and traditional markets over the year to come.”
The executive didn’t comment on whether Kraken will partner with an established event contracts platform as rival Coinbase is doing with Kalshi or if it will offer an in-house prediction market platform as does competitor Crypto.com.
Crypto, Prediction Markets Continue Intersecting
With Kraken joining the party in 2026, that company will be the latest cryptocurrency broker in the prediction markets arena joining rivals Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Gemini Space Station. Not to mention Robinhood Markets, which is a traditional brokerage platform with significant digital currency exposure.
The cryptocurrency/prediction markets union, which many experts believe as in the early innings of its growth spurt, is considered by some to be natural and practical. The growth of blockchain technology and the expansion of stablecoins are among the factors driving the onchain use cases for the crypto/prediction markets relationship.
Another way of looking at that scenario is that prediction markets bring a new use case for cryptocurrency forward, potentially providing important validation to an asset class that like prediction markets is still young.
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