NinjaTrader Group, the retail futures brokerage acquired by Kraken for $1.5 billion, today (Tuesday) launched NinjaTrader Connect, a new B2B platform designed to let brokers, fintechs, and trading firms build their own regulated futures and prediction markets businesses without constructing the underlying infrastructure themselves.

According to the press release, the offering, available through a single API, bundles everything from client onboarding and funding tools to clearing, margin controls, risk surveillance, and a white-labeled front-end trading platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term. NinjaTrader is essentially packaging 20 years of its own operational infrastructure and offering it to third parties on a commercial basis.

Turning Two Decades of NinjaTrader Into a Product

"We've spent more than 20 years building, operating, and scaling a retail futures brokerage in highly regulated markets," said Martin Franchi, CEO of NinjaTrader Group. "NinjaTrader Connect takes the infrastructure behind that success and makes it available to other brokerages. Instead of starting from scratch, partners can build on a foundation that has already been battle-tested at scale."

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That pitch - skip the build, borrow the backbone - is increasingly appealing to brokers who want exposure to futures and prediction markets but don't want to absorb the cost and complexity of becoming a registered FCM from scratch.

NinjaTrader is already registered with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant and holds NFA membership, two hurdles that typically take years and significant legal spend to clear.

The move follows a busy expansion period for the firm. In January 2026, NinjaTrader extended access to EU retail traders as CFD brokers began showing interest in adding futures products to their lineup, and last October the company jumped into prop trading with two dedicated technology platforms.

Prediction Markets Emerge as Key Infrastructure Battleground

The timing of the launch isn't accidental. Prediction markets - where users trade on the outcome of real-world events - have gone from a niche curiosity to a serious product category that brokers are actively trying to add. NinjaTrader Connect explicitly includes prediction market infrastructure in its offering, putting it in direct competition with a cluster of vendors racing to serve that same demand.

Leverate launched its own white-label prediction markets platform for brokers in February 2026, claiming 85% monthly retention rates and same-week deployment timelines. Before that, a partnership between Plaee and Crypto.com's CDNA unit brought CFTC-compliant prediction market infrastructure to third-party platforms.

The pattern is consistent: rather than building proprietary products, platforms are increasingly plugging into shared regulated infrastructure. A recent deep-dive into broker technology stacks outlined how crowded and competitive that vendor space has become.

What NinjaTrader brings that most of those vendors don't is existing CFTC CFTC The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss Read this Term registration and a live FCM operation with real clearing relationships.

FCM Model Gets a B2B Makeover

"Market access alone is no longer enough," added Max Shanbrom, Executive Vice President and General Manager at NinjaTrader Connect. "Modern brokerages need infrastructure that supports onboarding, funding, risk management, and a seamless trading experience that meets end-clients wherever they are in their trading journey."

That argument, that clearing alone doesn't cut it anymore, reflects a broader tension playing out across the brokerage industry. As analysis published last year on the B2B infrastructure shift noted, retail flow alone is becoming harder to rely on, and the firms building durable businesses are those that can offer complete operational stacks, not just execution or liquidity.

NinjaTrader's B2B push also comes as the company works to expand its international footprint. In February, it appointed former IG Group executive Christopher Tripp as General Manager for international operations, based in the UK, with European growth as a stated priority.