Kraken as crypto market utility
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, on building the Nasdaq of crypto
Kraken is trying to turn exchange liquidity into infrastructure that other financial apps can rent, not just a destination where end users trade. In practice, that means a neobank, broker, wallet, or payments app can plug into Kraken for trading, fiat on and off ramps, and crypto liquidity, while keeping its own customer relationship. That is how Kraken can adapt to very different regional use cases without building every local product itself.
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The product shape is already visible. Kraken Embed lets neobanks and broker dealers add crypto trading as a white label service, and Kraken Ramp lets partners offer crypto purchases without running their own liquidity, compliance, or payments stack. Early distribution through bunq and Onramper shows Kraken using partners as customer acquisition and market entry.
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This fits Kraken’s broader architecture. Management describes the exchange as a base layer, then builds separate experiences for pro traders, consumers, and send and receive flows on top. The same model extends outward to third parties, where partners use Kraken’s rails instead of Kraken forcing everyone into one app, which is the contrast drawn with Binance’s more monolithic approach.
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The economic logic is strong because liquidity compounds. Kraken generated about $1.5B of revenue in 2024, with unusually high ARPU of $2,023 and about $665B in trading volume, roughly half of Coinbase’s volume on far less revenue. That kind of dense, pro trader flow makes Kraken valuable as a backend provider for payments, stablecoin, and regional financial products that need tight spreads and reliable execution.
The next step is for Kraken to look less like a single exchange brand and more like a crypto market utility. If more fintechs, wallets, and onchain apps route through Kraken for settlement, ramps, and trading, Kraken can capture volume from many front ends at once and become the default infrastructure layer behind a wide range of global crypto financial products.