The popular American cryptocurrency exchange Kraken acquired the British digital asset trading service Crypto Facilities as part of an undisclosed transaction worth at least $ 100 million. In Kraken argue that we are talking about the sum of "eight zeros."
According to the head of Kraken, Jesse Powell, the merger will significantly speed up his company's development plan, allowing it to “circumvent” the long-term efforts to obtain the licenses and permits necessary to provide competing services in Europe.
Founded in 2014, Crypto Facilities is registered with the Financial Supervision Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom, which approved today’s deal.
In addition to trading in Bitcoin, Bitchesh, Ripple, Lightcoin and Live futures, Crypto Facilities provides data for the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate, an index created in collaboration with the CME Group and supported by this organization in the United States.
“Thanks to this deal, our joint development team will exceed 100 people and will speed up the work of Crypto Facilities, providing us with more resources. We plan to launch more contracts in the medium term, the company also has plans to increase assets”, said Powell.
Crypto Facilities CEO Timo Schlafer (Timo Schlaefer) will continue to work in Kraken after leaving the London Company, retaining the title of CEO. The firm will remain an independent structure within the larger Kraken group, the parent company of the exchange. In addition, the subsidiary that controls the index will also remain a separate organization within the broader structure of the companies.
According to Schlafer, all 25 employees of Crypto Facilities will continue to work in the company. Powell believes that the merger will help the Kraken business to be more in demand in the face of growing competition in the global market.
“Our goal is to build the most liquid futures exchange”, he stressed. “Now our customers will be able to trade futures at night and on weekends, going beyond 9x5 hours of current offers based on the US market.”
Powell expressed his desire to continue the strategy, avoiding attracting additional venture capital and instead focusing financially on his user base.
“The reasons for the refusal of venture capital are that we really do not need money, and in the long run it makes sense that the business belongs to the majority of users. In the end, we would like to align our interests with users”, the head of Kraken said.
Among exchanges like Kraken, the head of the company noted the development of platforms such as Binance, which "grew faster, bypassing interaction with regulators."
“They are not in the United States, they are not engaged in regulation, they are not associated with banks,” Powell said.
According to him, Bitstamp and Coinbase based in Luxembourg will be competitors that are more comparable.