Uncategorized
Crypto exchange Kraken exploring $1B raise ahead of IPO: Report
Published
5 days agoon
By
admin
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is considering a major capital raise ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) early next year, Bloomberg reported on March 24.
Citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg said Kraken is exploring a debt package worth anywhere between $200 million and $1 billion. The exchange is reportedly in preliminary talks with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase about facilitating the transaction.
The source reportedly told Bloomberg that the funds would be used to support Kraken’s growth and not for operational expenses.
Bloomberg has been reporting about Kraken’s IPO ambitions for the better part of a year. Talks of going public have intensified following the election of US President Donald Trump, with Bloomberg claiming that Kraken’s IPO could come in the first quarter of 2026.
Cointelegraph contacted a Kraken representative about the potential debt package and IPO, but they declined to comment.
Kraken is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, facilitating more than $1.1 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The exchange grew rapidly in 2024, with year-end financial statements showing $1.5 billion in revenue — a gain of 128% compared to 2023. The company’s adjusted earnings reached $380 million for the year.
Kraken’s year-end financial statements show significant growth in revenue, funded accounts and assets. Source: Kraken
Related: Kraken secures MiFID license to offer derivatives in Europe
Kraken’s latest acquisition
Kraken is expanding its footprint in the derivatives market with the $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader, a popular brokerage service specializing in futures contracts. The acquisition is part of the exchange’s broader push into multi-asset services, including equities and payments.
NinjaTrader was founded in 2003 and is registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Source: Arjun Sethi
The acquisition suggests crypto companies are growing their business with confidence following the election of a pro-crypto Republican administration. As Cointelegraph reported, Kraken was one of several crypto exchanges to be freed from enforcement action by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
A positive regulatory climate may have contributed to Kraken’s decision to resume crypto staking services for US clients after a nearly two-year hiatus. Clients in 37 states can now access staking services across 17 cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom
Bitcoin CME Gap Close About To Happen With Push Toward $83k Listing an altcoin traps exchanges on ‘forever hamster wheel’ — River CEO Nasdaq Files To Launch a New Grayscale Avalanche (AVAX) Exchange-Traded Fund How To Measure The Success Of A Bitcoin Treasury Company Why ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic Launched a Solana Meme Coin From Behind Bars Trump pardons BitMEX, is ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver next? Published on By When a cryptocurrency exchange lists its first altcoin, it sets itself up for an endless cycle of launching memecoins, warns a Bitcoin-only institution executive. “The minute an exchange adds one non-Bitcoin token, they are signing up to be on the forever hamster wheel of memecoins,” River Financial CEO Alex Leishman said in a March 29 X post. “It makes no sense to list ETH if you don’t list the tokens issued on ETH, and the same goes for Solana,” Leishman said. Leishman said while there are many “successful crypto casinos,” he has no interest in building one. River Financial is a Bitcoin-only financial institution focusing on buying and selling Bitcoin (BTC). Several companies have opted for the Bitcoin-only approach, including Swan Bitcoin, Bull Bitcoin, and decentralized exchange Bisq. Leishman claimed that multi-asset trading platforms prioritize short-term speculation over wealth accumulation: “The casino business model is built around maximal extraction from customers, and the Bitcoin-only model is focused on helping people build long-term wealth.” Critics have voiced this point before, even during the memecoin uptrend in early 2024. In April 2024, A16z chief technology officer Eddy Lazzarin said that memecoins hamper the long-term vision of crypto that has kept so many of the original builders in the space. “At best, it looks like a risky casino,” Lazzarin said. The memecoin market cap is down 27.94% over the past 12 months. Source: CoinMarketCap The overall memecoin market cap has taken a significant downturn since the beginning of 2025. Since Jan. 1, the memecoin market cap has slumped almost 49% to $48.49 billion at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap data. However, while altcoins have historically been more volatile than Bitcoin, offering them alongside Bitcoin has been a lucrative move for crypto exchanges and brokers. Related: Waiting for altcoin season? Data suggests it’s already here On Feb. 12, Robinhood, which offers several cryptocurrencies to its customers, reported a 700% year-over-year surge in Q4 2024 cryptocurrency revenue. Some traders seem to interpret a memecoin listing on an exchange as validation of its credibility. Among the 15 memecoins listed by crypto exchange Binance in 2024, 12 saw significant increases in value after going live on the exchange, pseudonymous onchain analyst Ai_9684xtpa said in November. CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong recently speculated that the memecoin market might be headed toward an “extreme case of power law,” where 99.99% fail and a few rise to the top and endure. Magazine: Arbitrum co-founder skeptical of move to based and native rollups: Steven Goldfeder Published on By The United States has a 40% chance of a recession in 2025 amid the potential for a protracted trade war and macroeconomic uncertainty, according to market analyst and Coin Bureau founder Nic Puckrin. In an interview with Cointelegraph, the analyst said that while a recession is not probable, a recession and the current macroeconomic uncertainty will create an environment where risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies suffer. Puckrin said: “Trump and his advisors have said they have not completely dismissed the recession, which means it is definitely possible, but right now, I would not say it is probable, but the odds have climbed a lot.” The analyst added that US President Donald Trump is not actively attempting to engineer a recession, but that the things the Trump administration is doing, including cutting federal jobs and spending to balance the budget can lead to recessions as a side effect. Macroeconomic uncertainty is the primary cause of the recent decline in the US Dollar Index (DXY), as investors shift capital to better opportunities in European capital markets and seek an escape from the economic uncertainty currently plaguing US markets, Puckrin told Cointelegraph. The DXY, which tracks the strength of the US dollar, took a nosedive in March 2025. Source: TradingView Related: Timeline: How Trump tariffs dragged Bitcoin below $80K President Trump’s tariffs on US trading partners sent a shockwave through the crypto markets, leading to a steep decline in altcoin prices and a 24% correction in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price from the Jan. 20 high of over $109,000. The tariffs and fears of a prolonged trade war also reoriented market sentiment toward extreme fear — a sharp contrast from the euphoric highs felt after the re-election of Donald Trump in the United States in November 2025 and the January 20 inauguration. The price of Bitcoin has been struggling amid the trade war headlines and is currently trading below its 200-day exponential moving average (EMA). Source: TradingView According to Nansen research analyst Nicolai Sondergaard, crypto markets will feel the pressure of tariffs until April 2025. If countries can successfully negotiate an end to the tariffs or the Trump administration softens its stance then markets will recover, the analyst added. 10x Research founder Markus Thielen recently said that BTC formed a price bottom in March 2025, as US President Donald Trump softened the rhetoric around trade tariffs — signaling a potential price reversal. Magazine: Bitcoiners are ‘all in’ on Trump since Bitcoin ’24, but it’s getting risky Published on By Sonic Labs has canceled plans to launch a US dollar-pegged algorithmic stablecoin, opting instead to develop a United Arab Emirates dirham-denominated alternative. On March 22, Sonic Labs co-founder Andre Cronje said the company was working on a US dollar-pegged algorithmic stablecoin with an annual percentage rate (APR) of up to 23%, Cointelegraph reported. However, one week later, the firm reversed course. “We will no longer be releasing a USD based algorithmic stable coin,” Cronje said in a March 28 X post. “Completely unrelated, we will be releasing a mathematically bound numerical Dirham which is settled and denominated in USD, which is definitely not a USD based algorithmic stable coin.” The shift in strategy comes shortly after the UAE announced it would launch its digital dirham central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the fourth quarter of 2025. Source: Andre Cronje Khaled Mohamed Balama, governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, said the blockchain-based dirham could enhance financial stability and help combat financial crime. The digital currency will be accepted alongside its physical counterpart in all payment channels, according to a report from the Khaleej Times. Related: Paolo Ardoino: Competitors and politicians intend to ‘kill Tether’ The reversal follows widespread criticism of Sonic’s original plan to launch an algorithmic stablecoin — a model that has raised concerns across the crypto industry since the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022. Cronje himself previously admitted to experiencing Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to algorithmic stablecoin due to previous cycles: “Pretty sure our team cracked algo stable coins today, but previous cycle gave me so much PTSD not sure if we should implement.” In May 2022, the $40 billion Terra ecosystem collapsed, erasing tens of billions of dollars of value in a matter of days. Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), had been yielding an over 20% annual percentage yield (APY) on Anchor Protocol prior to its collapse. As UST lost its dollar peg, crashing to a low of around $0.30, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon took to X (then Twitter) to share his rescue plan. At the same time, the value of sister token LUNA — once a top 10 crypto project by market capitalization — plunged over 98% to $0.84. LUNA was trading north of $120 in early April 2022. Related: Tether’s US treasury holdings surpass Canada, Taiwan, ranks 7th globally The collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin issuer created shockwaves among both crypto investors and lawmakers. To reduce systemic risk, the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) bill will prohibit algorithmic stablecoins to avoid another Terra-like failure. Meanwhile, stablecoins are increasingly being used for smaller, everyday payments rather than large transfers, according to CoinFund managing partner David Pakman. “We’ve seen a significant decrease in the size of each stablecoin transaction, which points to the fact that they are being used more as payments and less for large transfers,” Pakman said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X on March 27. Magazine: Ripple says SEC lawsuit ‘over,’ Trump at DAS, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 16 – 22 Arthur Hayes, Murad’s Prediction For Meme Coins, AI & DeFi Coins For 2025 Expert Sees Bitcoin Dipping To $50K While Bullish Signs Persist Aptos Leverages Chainlink To Enhance Scalability and Data Access Bitcoin Could Rally to $80,000 on the Eve of US Elections Sonic Now ‘Golden Standard’ of Layer-2s After Scaling Transactions to 16,000+ per Second, Says Andre Cronje Institutional Investors Go All In on Crypto as 57% Plan to Boost Allocations as Bull Run Heats Up, Sygnum Survey Reveals Crypto’s Big Trump Gamble Is Risky Ripple-SEC Case Ends, But These 3 Rivals Could Jump 500x
Source link You may like
Uncategorized
Listing an altcoin traps exchanges on ‘forever hamster wheel’ — River CEO
River has no interest in building a “successful crypto casino”
Source link Uncategorized
US recession 40% likely in 2025, what it means for crypto — Analyst
Trade war fears drag the price of Bitcoin down
Source link Uncategorized
Sonic Labs ditch algorithmic USD stablecoin for UAE dirham alternative
Sonic faced criticism over stablecoin plans
Source link Bitcoin CME Gap Close About To Happen With Push Toward $83k
Listing an altcoin traps exchanges on ‘forever hamster wheel’ — River CEO
Nasdaq Files To Launch a New Grayscale Avalanche (AVAX) Exchange-Traded Fund
How To Measure The Success Of A Bitcoin Treasury Company
Why ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic Launched a Solana Meme Coin From Behind Bars
Trump pardons BitMEX, is ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver next?
Terraform Labs to Open Claims Portal for Investors on March 31
BitGo CEO Calls For Regulation Amid Galaxy Digital’s Settlement
Ethereum Bulls Disappointed As Recovery Attempt Fails At $2,160 Resistance
US recession 40% likely in 2025, what it means for crypto — Analyst
Crypto Investment Firm Galaxy Digital Settles With New York AG for $200,000,000 Over Luna Allegations
Bitcoin Covenants: CHECKTEMPLATEVERIFY (BIP 119)
This Week in Bitcoin: GameStop Reveals Reserve, But Inflation Fears Rear Their Head
Solana price prepares a wild ride as risks rise
FTX to Begin $11.4B Creditor Payouts in May After Years-Long Bankruptcy Battle
Arthur Hayes, Murad’s Prediction For Meme Coins, AI & DeFi Coins For 2025
Expert Sees Bitcoin Dipping To $50K While Bullish Signs Persist
Aptos Leverages Chainlink To Enhance Scalability and Data Access
Bitcoin Could Rally to $80,000 on the Eve of US Elections
Sonic Now ‘Golden Standard’ of Layer-2s After Scaling Transactions to 16,000+ per Second, Says Andre Cronje
Institutional Investors Go All In on Crypto as 57% Plan to Boost Allocations as Bull Run Heats Up, Sygnum Survey Reveals
Crypto’s Big Trump Gamble Is Risky
Ripple-SEC Case Ends, But These 3 Rivals Could Jump 500x
Has The Bitcoin Price Already Peaked?
A16z-backed Espresso announces mainnet launch of core product
Xmas Altcoin Rally Insights by BNM Agent I
Blockchain groups challenge new broker reporting rule
The Future of Bitcoin: Scaling, Institutional Adoption, and Strategic Reserves with Rich Rines
Trump’s Coin Is About As Revolutionary As OneCoin
Is $200,000 a Realistic Bitcoin Price Target for This Cycle?
Trending