Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has acquired Israeli trading automation firm Capitalise.ai for an undisclosed sum, marking a significant step in democratizing advanced trading strategies across digital and traditional asset classes.
The acquisition will integrate Capitalise.ai’s proprietary natural-language platform directly into Kraken Pro later this year, allowing users to design, backtest and automate sophisticated trading strategies without writing a single line of code.
Founded in 2015, Capitalise.ai developed a groundbreaking platform that transforms everyday text into executable trading strategies using proprietary language models and big data infrastructure. The technology supports real-time execution across equities, cryptocurrency, foreign exchange, futures and options markets, eliminating technical barriers that have traditionally limited access to algorithmic trading.
Shannon Kurtas, Kraken’s head of exchange, emphasized the acquisition’s transformative potential, stating that it “gives Kraken Pro clients a new way to act on ideas in real time” while making advanced strategies accessible to a broader range of users.
The integration addresses a key challenge faced by Kraken Pro users, where increasingly sophisticated features have required deep technical expertise and trading knowledge.
The deal brings CEO Amir Shiovich and CPO Shahar Rabin, along with key product and engineering talent, into Kraken’s organization where they will operate within the Pro platform team. Capitalise.ai’s technology has already demonstrated compelling results when deployed by traditional finance brokers and exchanges, according to Kraken’s announcement.
This acquisition follows Kraken’s $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader in March, underscoring the exchange’s aggressive expansion strategy across multi-asset trading platforms. The move aligns with Kraken’s stated goal of creating “a multi-asset platform that enables anyone to trade anything, anytime, anywhere” as outlined in the company’s second-quarter financial highlights.
The acquisition reflects a broader industry trend of cryptocurrency firms racing to acquire artificial intelligence startups. Recent deals include Chainalysis’s $150 million acquisition of fraud detection firm Alterya, xPortal’s purchase of AI interface specialist Alphalink, and Tether and Rumble’s joint $1.17 billion bid for Northern Data, an AI and high-performance computing provider.
MARA Holdings also struck a $168 million deal for a 64% stake in French AI firm Exaion, highlighting the sector’s aggressive push into artificial intelligence capabilities.
