During an interview with CNBC last week, Kraken’s global head of consumer, Mark Greenberg, spoke openly about the breakout year prediction markets enjoyed in 2025.
Kraken Outlines Plans for 2026 Push into Prediction Markets
Despite a long list of ongoing legal challenges, companies such as DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have launched their dedicated platforms, while Kalshi has held out against regulatory pushback.
Greenberg, however, believes that 2026 could be another banner year for the sector.
“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,” he told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday.
In the same stride, Greednberg confirmed that Kraken is also exploring the opportunity to push ahead in the space on its own, bringing prediction markets to its users, which should be happening in 2026.
Everything has been pointing to this, already, with the company buying out Small Exchange from IG Group for $100 million in October.
Essentially, Kraken opted for the deal in order to secure the company’s license to provide event contracts in the country, putting a foothold in the space without committing to the plan right away.
Greenberg said that Kraken saw prediction markets as a positive trend that is going to outlast any short-term challenges, but was cagey about what specific business strategy the platform may follow from here on out.
Kraken Still Vague on Specific Details, as Challenges Abound
For example, he did not speak about the possibility of teaming up with a more established rival such as Coinbase or Kalshi, pointing most likely to the fact that the company is probably thrashing out the details itself.
Despite a long string of companies cottoning onto the segment, the market is still only teething and is far from established.
A recent court brief filed by Nevada’s attorney general, Aaron Ford, on behalf of 38 states and the District of Columbia, is backing gaming regulators’ efforts to prohibit the offering of sports event contracts by such platforms, which have been one of their major drivers of revenue.
While Kraken and others are betting big on the market’s sustained development, it will not all be smooth sailing in the coming years.