Kraken strikes again; snaps up staking platform Staked

Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken has acquired Staked, which is a non-custodial crypto staking platform, for an undisclosed amount.

In what is termed as “one of the largest crypto industry acquisitions to date”, Kraken has announced the purchase of blockchain infrastructure company and investment manager, Staked. This move will mark the cryptocurrency exchange’s fifth acquisition this year.

Kraken’s new beginning

Kraken’s new acquisition will now allow customers to stake crypto while maintaining direct control over their funds. Instead of running many projects in parallel, the crypto exchange can now consolidate all the other services into one. Its CEO Jesse Powell, seemed quite thrilled with the latest move from a strategic advantage for the cryptocurrency exchange. He went on to add,

“We are excited to add Staked to our portfolio of yield products, which has seen great uptake by a growing population of crypto investors. Staked is highly complementary to our existing staking business and will allow us to further strengthen our product offering through world-class infrastructure for clients who prefer to retain custody of their staked assets”. 

A brief primer on Staked

For the uninitiated, Staked was founded in 2018 and is one of the earliest companies to focus on staking even before major crypto exchanges began to offer similar services. The platform helps investors compound their cryptocurrency investments by participating in staking or lending. Staking is a way where the crypto is put to work and earn rewards from it. The process lets users lock their coins for a period of time to support a blockchain network and confirm transactions. Staking is available with cryptocurrencies that use the proof-of-stake (PoS) model to process payments.

Staked CEO Tim Ogilvie, who looked entirely enthusiastic about the deal, said that the state-of-the-art infrastructure of the staking platform will enable Kraken to develop innovative products for all the platform’s clients and help to expand the number of proof-of-stake networks on the network. He stated,

“Kraken clearly shares our commitment to supporting proof-of-stake networks, having a security-first mindset, and unwavering focus on customer experience, which makes them an ideal partner.”

Past acquisitions

The acquisition will play a major role to strengthen Kraken’s ground in the crypto market. The cryptocurrency exchange’s staking business has grown more than 950% since the beginning of the year to reach $16 billion in November resulting in token rewards valued at more than $500 million being paid out to clients.

Besides, Staked acquisition is the fifth high-profile deal for the cryptocurrency exchange giant which follows earlier acquisitions of London-based financial services firm Crypto Facilities and Australian crypto exchange, Bit Trade.