Kraken is stepping up its presence in the cryptocurrency industry. After a successful year, the US exchange has decided to close 2021 with the acquisition of Staked, thus expanding its token capabilities. staking and generally improving the quality of its services.
Staked is a platform of staking of non-custodial cryptocurrencies, which facilitates the safe storage of assets while providing attractive return options for investors.
An acquisition that makes sense
According to a PR shared by the Kraken team, the exchange bought Staked for an undisclosed sum, and Staked customers will now become Kraken customers across the board.
That is, instead of having several projects running in parallel, Kraken will condense all the services on its platform. Jesse Powell, CEO and co-founder of Kraken was quite optimistic about the acquisition and said this move could be strategic for the future of the exchange:
“We are thrilled to add Staked to our yield product portfolio, which has seen a large uptake by a growing population of cryptocurrency investors. Staked is highly complementary to our business staking existing and will allow us to further strengthen our product offering through a world-class infrastructure for clients who prefer to keep safekeeping of their staked assets. ”
Tim Ogilvie, CEO of Staked, said the union is logical as both sides share similar goals. After the acquisition, users will significantly benefit from Staked's options and the other services they will have access to, thanks to Kraken's technology.
Kraken and the battle for the American market
The acquisition of Staked plays an important role in Kraken's race to conquer the American market. While other exchanges begin to to invest money to attract the public with innovative proposals, Kraken has taken a less aggressive approach, focusing on strengthening its infrastructure.
Staked would be Kraken's fifth acquisition in 2021. The exchange has seen an overall growth of nearly 430% so far this year, but its services of staking they increased by 950% over the same period. The awards of staking they have already reached $ 500 million distributed to investors.
Kraken is thus positioning itself as a major exponent in the US services market staking. For example, Galaxy digital acquired BitGo cryptocurrency custody service in May and Coinbase launched its staking in 2020. However, the most significant growth factor for the leading US exchange was undoubtedly its public listing.
Kraken also hinted at his interest in following Coinbase's path and going public. We previously reported that Kraken CEO Jesse Powell was considering coordinating an IPO instead of a direct listing. Powell made this clear during an interview with Fortune:
“An IPO looks a little more attractive in light of the performance of the direct listing. I would say that we are looking at it more seriously now, having the benefit of seeing how the direct public offering has worked for Coinbase ”.
Other exchanges looking to expand their influence in the US market are Binance US, FTX, and Crypto.com, so US users have good options to choose from, which is a relief given the country's restrictive regulatory conditions.
