Kraken

Jesse Powell and Thanh Luu co-founded Kraken. Its anniversary history dates the founding to July 28, 2011 and links Powell’s experience helping with an early Mt. Gox hack to his focus on exchange security.⁠[1][2]

Kraken launched trading in September 2013 with euro, bitcoin and litecoin markets, roughly two years after the company’s founding.⁠[3]

Kraken’s history records a March 2014 proof-of-reserves exercise allowing clients to verify balance inclusion, followed by a $5 million Series A led by Hummingbird Ventures. Such verification concerns a defined date and covered assets rather than a comprehensive financial audit.⁠[3][4]

Kraken entered crypto futures in 2019, enabling derivative-based price exposure and hedging. The group subsequently expanded these services through regulated entities in different jurisdictions.⁠[2]

Wyoming approved Kraken Financial as a Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI). The entity operates on a full-reserve basis; Kraken states that it is not an FDIC-insured bank and its deposits lack FDIC insurance.⁠[2][5]

The SEC announced that Payward Ventures and Payward Trading would end the unregistered staking programme at issue and pay $30 million in disgorgement, interest and civil penalties. They neither admitted nor denied the allegations. This was separate from the later 2023 exchange-platform lawsuit.⁠[6]

Kraken announced Arjun Sethi as co-CEO alongside Dave Ripley. Their public letter described reducing management layers and giving engineering, product and design teams greater direct accountability to accelerate product delivery.⁠[7]

Kraken joined Global Dollar Network as an initial partner and offered USDG at launch. The Paxos-backed network sought to share stablecoin economics with participants driving adoption.⁠[8]

The SEC and Kraken entities filed a joint stipulation to dismiss with prejudice the civil enforcement case brought in November 2023. The SEC said its decision reflected a revised crypto-regulatory approach rather than an assessment of the allegations’ merits.⁠[9]

Kraken announced completion of its NinjaTrader acquisition in its first-quarter update, expanding traditional futures and crypto-derivatives capabilities. The period also included Kraken Pay’s launch and renewed staking access for eligible US clients.⁠[4]

Kraken announced $800 million across two financing tranches, with Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, HSG, Oppenheimer Alternative Investment Management and Tribe Capital among the principal investors. A subsequent $200 million Citadel SecuritiesCitadel SecuritiesCitadel Securities is an American market maker founded in Chicago in 2002 by Ken Griffin and partners and headquartered in Miami, providing liquidity to institutional and retail investors across a range of financial products. It is a separate company from Citadel, the hedge fund Griffin founded in 1990.Open the full entry investment agreement was signed at a $20 billion valuation.⁠[10]

The annual update identified Payward as the parent and shared infrastructure behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, xStocks and other products. It reported 2025 adjusted revenue of $2.2 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $531 million, both non-GAAP measures, and confirmed the January 2026 acquisition of Backed.⁠[11]

Kraken announced a Federal Reserve master account for Kraken Financial, providing direct access to dollar payment infrastructure including Fedwire, with a phased institutional rollout. Its regulatory materials describe a limited-purpose master account; the authorization belongs to the bank entity.⁠[12][5]

Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial, bringing futures brokerage, a designated contract market and a derivatives clearing organization into the group. These CFTC-regulated capabilities support US derivatives for Kraken, NinjaTrader and external platforms; Bitnomial retained its licences and third-party clearing arrangements.⁠[13]

Payward’s second-quarter report confirmed Reap’s acquisition closed on July 1, adding stablecoin payments and card issuance. A July 27 agreement to acquire Magic Labs’ wallet-infrastructure business remained pending at the report date.⁠[14]

Payward reported Q2 2026 adjusted revenue of $508 million and adjusted EBITDA of $23 million, with $40 billion in customer assets on platform and 6.6 million funded accounts at quarter-end. The earnings measures are adjusted, and platform assets belong to customers.⁠[14]

With USDG’s native Arbitrum One launch, Kraken supported deposits and withdrawals on that network, connecting exchange and onchain activity directly.⁠[15]

Kraken offers consumer, Kraken Pro, institutional and wallet products. Equities, derivatives, e-money and crypto services rely on distinct group entities and authorizations. EU MiCA permissions, UK registrations and US bank status are not interchangeable, and product availability varies by jurisdiction.⁠[16][5]

The official website is kraken.com, its X handle is @krakenfx, LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry is /company/krakenfx/, and YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry is @KrakenCryptoExchange. The trading-platform brand is distinct from the mythical sea creature and unrelated companies sharing the name.⁠[17][18][19]