Kraken said on Thursday it would buy retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, in a deal that would allow one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges to expand into multiple asset classes and grow its user base.

Kraken is acquiring retail futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, allowing the crypto exchange to offer crypto futures and derivatives in the US for the first time and to expand into more traditional markets.

The cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is nearing a $1.5 billion deal for NinjaTrader, a U.S. retail futures trading platform, in a bid to expand its user base and expand into other asset classes, according to people familiar with the matter.