Kraken, one of the oldest crypto exchanges on the market with over 12 years active in the field, will reportedly expand its horizons and begin offering stock exchange trading services for the first time in its history, an insider source claims.
The move is part of Kraken’s response to the slump in interest in cryptocurrencies brought on by the ongoing bear market.
According to the confidential source who spoke with Bloomberg, the exchange is also working on its prime brokerage services and will launch a qualified custodian service aimed at institutional investors.
When released, the custodian service will be run separately from the exchange to avoid the risk of commingling funds. Kraken is currently waiting for approval from the state of Wyoming to launch.
Although no tentative date has been proposed for the custodian arm, Kraken’s new stock trading service – rumored to be named Kraken Securities, a name which should give Gensler quite an earful – should be launched sometime in 2024.
Kraken Securities will be a zero-commission service in order to attract as many new and existing customers as possible, according to Bloomberg.
Similar services have seen success in recent years, with Robinhood observing an influx of new traders and neobanks like Revolut sparking the interest of customers who probably would not have gotten into stock trading otherwise. However, Kraken’s long history of weathering crises in the crypto market should give the service an extra layer of legitimacy.
Once the service goes live, eligible Kraken users will be prompted to sign up for the service. If they do, their entire portfolio across all investment avenues will be shown in a single, integrated balance.
Currently, the firm has reportedly applied for a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority of the USA and has already received the green light from its UK counterparts.
The reports of Kraken Futures’ upcoming launch will likely boost the company’s numbers across multiple fields.
This summer, Kraken briefly became the US exchange with the most liquidity in popular altcoins in the US.
The exchange also registered good results in European and Australian markets in the same time period
“Kraken emerged as the biggest beneficiary after Binance suspended GBP/AUD deposits and withdrawals earlier this year. While its USD market share has stagnated at 20%, Kraken has now claimed the top spot in AUD/EUR/GBP markets.”
It also recently cornered 3.5% of the global spot trading market, the highest market share it has achieved since 2018.