According to a Bloomberg article, the top cryptocurrency exchange Kraken intends to expand its services by adding trading in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and equities that are listed on the NASDAQ.
With this move, Robinhood and other well-known financial services providers will be directly in competition with Kraken.
Customers in the United States and the United Kingdom will be the first to have access to the new service when it debuts in 2024.
A competitive landscape
According to U.Today, Kraken has been debating starting a stock trading service for years.
Being able to compete with major firms like Charles Schwab, Public.com, E*TRADE, and Robinhood in the stocks and ETF trading business is no easy task. To gain a presence, Kraken will need to carefully negotiate the highly competitive and regulated financial market. The business is now working to get the required regulatory authorizations in the U.S. and the U.K. The business hasn’t officially announced its debut into such a saturated sector, though.
Recent developments
Kraken has taken initiative to broaden its service and geographic reach.
The business has recently made tremendous progress in Spain and Ireland, obtaining crucial regulatory permissions to operate in these countries. The UK derivatives division of Kraken is also considering growth to fill the void left by FTX’s demise in November of the previous year.
On the other hand, Jesse Powell, a co-founder of Kraken and a former CEO, is the subject of a federal investigation into allegations of hacking and cyberstalking.
