Kraken Acquires Capitalise.ai: Bringing No-Code AI Trading to Crypto Exchange

Kraken acquires Capitalise.ai as crypto companies buy AI startups

Kraken's acquisition will add natural-language trading automation to its Pro platform, as exchanges, miners and analytics companies move aggressively into AI. Crypto exchange Kraken has acquired Israel-based startup Capitalise.ai, a no-code trading automation platform that turns natural-language commands into executable strategies, for an undisclosed amount. The technology will be integrated into Kraken Pro later this year, according to a blog post by Kraken on Aug. 20. Founded in 2015, Capitalise.ai built a platform that converts everyday text into strategies and supports execution across equities, crypto, foreign exchange markets, futures and options. Once integrated, Kraken Pro users will be able to design, backtest, and automate trades across digital and traditional markets without writing code. "This acquisition gives Kraken Pro clients a new way to act on ideas in real time," said Shannon Kurtas, Kraken's head of exchange. She said the system aims to make advanced strategies more accessible to a broader range of users. The move follows Kraken's $1.5 billion purchase of US futures platform NinjaTrader in March. Major crypto exchanges, analytics companies and miners are increasingly acquiring AI companies, underscoring a trend of artificial intelligence becoming core to trading, compliance and infrastructure. On Jan. 13, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis acquired Alterya, an AI-powered fraud detection startup, in a deal worth about $150 million. Alterya's real-time monitoring system is designed to flag suspicious activity, strengthening compliance tools for banks and regulators. Later that month, Web3 super-app xPortal bought Alphalink, a German startup specializing in AI-driven mobile interfaces for crypto. The acquisition brought Alphalink's team in-house to expand xPortal's AI tools for DeFi and digital identity. Acquisition momentum has picked up in recent weeks. On Aug. 11, Tether and video platform Rumble announced a joint $1.17 billion bid to acquire Germany-based Northern Data, an AI and high-performance computing infrastructure provider. The deal would fold Northern Data's GPU cloud and data center units into Rumble, with Tether committing to multi-year GPU purchases. The same day, Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings struck a $168 million deal to acquire a 64% stake in French AI firm Exaion, a subsidiary of state-owned utility EDF. Exaion's high-performance computing business partners with Nvidia and Deloitte, and the deal includes an option for MARA to raise its stake to 75% by 2027. Not all companies are buying their way in. In July, Coinbase chose partnership over acquisition, teaming up with Perplexity AI to feed its COIN50 index data into the search engine -- a step toward embedding crypto data into real-time AI responses.

Kraken's Capitalise.ai deal: game-changing no-code AI trading or just more hype in crypto's AI race?

Kraken Capitalise.ai acquisition is shaping up to be one of the most important shifts in crypto trading this year. With the takeover of the Israeli no-code trading platform, Kraken is betting big on AI-powered automation for its Kraken Pro users. Kraken's Capitalise.ai acquisition signals bold AI bet for no-code trading, underscoring the exchange's push to make automation central to its growth strategy. By bringing Capitalise.ai's natural-language technology into Kraken Pro, the platform is lowering the barrier for traders who want advanced strategies without writing a single line of code. This move positions Kraken at the front of a new wave in crypto markets, where artificial intelligence is no longer just a back-office tool but a core feature for users. For both retail investors and professionals, the deal could redefine how trading automation is built, tested, and executed. While the financial terms remain undisclosed, the deal fits squarely into Kraken's strategy of making advanced tools accessible to both retail and institutional traders. At its core, Capitalise.ai allows users to write trading strategies in plain English. Instead of coding complex algorithms, a trader could simply type: "Buy Bitcoin if it drops below $58,000 and the RSI falls under 30." The system then translates that into executable strategies, complete with backtesting and real-time monitoring. ALSO READ: XRP price prediction: After a massive 17% monthly drop, can XRP hold $2.70 or is $2.30 the next stop? The technology isn't confined to crypto alone. Capitalise.ai has been used across equities, futures, FX, and options markets, giving Kraken Pro the potential to position itself not just as a crypto exchange but as a multi-asset trading platform. This is in line with Kraken's earlier $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader in March, which expanded its foothold in traditional markets. The move is more than just another crypto company buying an AI startup -- it has direct implications for how traders interact with markets. For Kraken, this is a differentiator. Competitors like Coinbase have leaned toward AI partnerships (e.g., with Perplexity AI) rather than direct acquisitions. Binance, meanwhile, has focused more on product breadth than AI integration. Kraken is betting that hands-on AI capabilities will win over traders seeking automation without complexity. The Kraken-Capitalise.ai deal doesn't exist in a vacuum. The broader industry is in an arms race for AI talent and infrastructure. Kraken's choice to buy and directly integrate Capitalise.ai signals a more aggressive approach. Instead of renting AI capacity, Kraken is owning the tech stack and embedding it natively in its platform. A phased rollout of Capitalise.ai features is expected later this year. According to Kraken, the integration will allow both simple and advanced strategies to be designed, tested, and deployed directly within Kraken Pro. Co-founders Amir Shiovich and Shahar Rabin, along with Capitalise.ai's engineering team, are set to join Kraken's product division to drive the build-out. If the rollout meets expectations, Kraken Pro could move from being a crypto exchange to something closer to a quant-lite platform for everyday traders. The challenge will be execution -- ensuring user experience doesn't become bloated with overly complex features, while also keeping institutional clients satisfied with robust performance. For everyday investors, Kraken's acquisition means access to smarter trading tools without needing to code. For professionals, it may become a bridge between crypto and traditional markets, all in one environment. But risks remain. Over-reliance on no-code strategies could encourage copy-paste trading and herd behavior. Regulatory scrutiny could also increase as AI-driven automation scales across markets. Still, if Kraken executes well, this acquisition could redefine the competitive landscape of crypto exchanges, giving it an edge in a market where differentiation is increasingly hard to achieve. Q1. What does the Kraken Capitalise.ai acquisition mean for traders? It gives Kraken Pro users no-code AI trading tools to create strategies without coding. Q2. When will Capitalise.ai features launch on Kraken Pro? The rollout begins later this year in phases.