The CEO of Kraken is saying that the cryptocurrency exchange will expand the range of products and services it offers.
In a CNBC interview, Jesse Powell says that Kraken is branching out into products and services generally associated with legacy financial institutions.
“We’re getting more into traditional financial services such as stock trading, banking services, maybe even small loans at some point.”
The Kraken CEO says that their main focus will remain crypto-related products and services.
“That’s sort of a smaller project. We’re really experts at the cryptocurrency business.
We’ve been in this space for over 10 years now and we’re really on the bleeding edge of what’s happening with cryptocurrency.”
In September 2020, the financial company’s regulator in the state of Wyoming awarded Kraken Financial the Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) charter, allowing Kraken Financial to operate as an independent bank for digital assets, and thereby reducing Kraken’s dependence on third-party financial institutions.
At the time, Kraken said the charter would enable the exchange to take custody of crypto assets, accept US dollar deposits and allow clients to transfer their US dollar holdings seamlessly.
Kraken Financial intends to offer debit card services and custodial services for broker-dealers, as well as wealth management and treasury services.
Kraken also plans to go public in the future. In April, Powell revealed that Kraken was considering becoming a public company via a direct listing, possibly in 2022.
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