--- title: 'Kraken — company profile' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/companies/kraken' type: 'company' updated: '2026-07-02' --- # Kraken > Kraken is a global cryptocurrency exchange and financial-services platform, run by Payward, Inc., spanning crypto, stocks, futures, and payments. - **Website:** https://www.kraken.com/ - **Type:** Private (Payward, Inc.) - **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, USA (remote-first) - **Founded:** 2011 - **Founders:** Jesse Powell, Thanh Luu, Michael Gronager - **Valuation:** $20B (2026, reported; a Deutsche Borse secondary implied ~$13.3B) - **Total raised:** $1B+ (incl. $800M in Nov 2024 and a $200M Citadel Securities investment) - **Latest round:** Fresh raise reported at a $20B valuation, 2026 - **Investors:** Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, Tribe Capital, Citadel Securities, Deutsche Borse, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blockchain Capital, Fidelity - **Business model:** Trading fees, spreads, and financing across spot, margin, and futures, plus a paid subscription (Kraken+) and institutional custody/prime services. - **Industries:** Banking & Exchange - **Open roles:** 66 - **Profile:** https://feeny.ai/companies/kraken ## What they do Kraken is a global cryptocurrency exchange and financial-services platform run by Payward, Inc. It lets retail and institutional clients trade crypto, stocks, ETFs, margin, and US perpetual futures, plus staking, custody, a debit card, and payments, from a single account, and it owns much of its own trading, clearing, and brokerage infrastructure. ## Overview **Fifteen years in, Kraken is trying to become the Nasdaq of crypto** Kraken is one of the oldest names in crypto that never blew up, and that longevity is the whole pitch. Founded in 2011 in San Francisco by Jesse Powell, Thanh Luu, and Michael Gronager, it grew into a global exchange trusted by 13+ million people, with $2T+ in total transaction volume and the industry's first Proof of Reserves audit to back up its transparency claims. The company you actually deal with is Payward, Inc., and the ambition has outgrown the trading app. Payward now owns NinjaTrader, Bitnomial, xStocks, CF Benchmarks, and more, and it is stitching them into one regulated stack that spans crypto, stocks, futures, and payments. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi, who joined from the board in late 2024, has been blunt about the goal: build the Nasdaq of crypto and take it public. ## What They Do **One account for crypto, stocks, futures, and the plumbing underneath** Kraken lets you buy, sell, and trade crypto with as little as $10, then keeps going: spot, margin, US perpetual futures, staking, custody, a debit card, and now US stocks and ETFs, all from a single account. The bet is that a serious trader should not have to leave the platform as they level up from a first Bitcoin buy to leveraged perps. What separates it from a plain exchange is how much of the stack Payward owns outright. For US perpetual futures it points to owning Bitnomial (the exchange and clearinghouse) and NinjaTrader (the broker), so it can offer regulated perps onshore without routing customer money through third parties. Three licenses, one company, is the line they use. ## Problems **Killing the offshore VPN trade and the trust gap crypto never fixed** Two problems sit at the center of Kraken's product. The first is trust: crypto is full of exchanges that lost customer funds, so Kraken leans hard on Proof of Reserves, regulated entities, and a clean security record as its answer to the question every user quietly asks. The second is access. Until recently, trading perpetual futures in the US meant going offshore through a VPN, trusting platforms outside US regulation with no guarantee your funds were safe. Kraken's fix is to bring those markets onshore under its own licenses and to collapse the usual mess of separate accounts. Spot, margin, and futures share one wallet, one margin pool, and one login, so a trader can move up in complexity without switching platforms. ### Problems addressed - Trust and counterparty risk in crypto exchanges (Proof of Reserves, regulated entities) - US traders forced offshore via VPN to access perpetual futures - Fragmented accounts across spot, margin, and futures - Location-based pay discounts for global talent ## Who It's For **From the $10 first-timer to the family office and the trading firm** Kraken deliberately serves both ends of the market at once. On one side are retail newcomers who want to buy their first crypto in minutes and casual investors who like the app's simplicity. On the other are professional traders who want deep liquidity, 10x spot margin, and perps, plus institutions, family offices, and hedge funds routed through Kraken Institutional, Prime, and Custody. The VIP and institutions desks are pitched at ultra-high-net-worth individuals and global firms, while affiliates and creators get their own program. It is a wide funnel by design, and the risk is the classic one: a product built for everyone has to keep the beginner from feeling lost and the pro from feeling underserved. ### Ideal customer profiles - **First-time crypto buyer** — Wants to start trading in minutes with as little as $10; Needs a simple, trustworthy app - **Active / pro trader** — Needs deep liquidity, spot margin, and onshore perps; Wants spot, margin, and futures in one account and wallet - **Institution / family office** — Needs regulated custody, OTC liquidity, and prime services; Requires governance, segregation, and bankruptcy-remote custody ## Products **A trading suite that keeps swallowing adjacent financial products** Kraken's lineup started as an exchange and kept expanding outward into custody, futures, a card, and equities. The through-line is that each new product reuses the same account, wallet, and regulatory footprint, so the suite feels like one platform rather than a bundle of apps. The more interesting recent moves are at the edges: onshore US perpetual futures built on owned infrastructure, a Kraken+ subscription that zeroes out trading fees, and equities trading through a FINRA-registered broker-dealer. Crypto is still the core, but the roadmap clearly points at a full-stack brokerage. ## Business Model **Trading fees at the core, a $4.99 subscription at the edge** Kraken makes most of its money the way exchanges always have: fees on trades, spreads, and financing. Spot margin charges 0.01% to 0.05% to open a position plus a rollover fee every four hours, futures run a maker-taker model that drops as your volume grows, and margin borrow costs add up on leveraged positions. The newer wrinkle is Kraken+, a $4.99 per month subscription that waives trading fees on up to $10k of monthly volume and boosts stablecoin rewards. It is a bet that heavy users will happily pay a flat fee to escape per-trade costs, and it gives Kraken a recurring revenue line that does not depend on market volatility. ### Plans Kraken's core revenue is transactional: spot margin costs 0.01% to 0.05% to open a position with a rollover fee every four hours, and futures use a maker-taker model whose fees fall as 30-day volume grows. On top of that sits Kraken+, a flat $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year) subscription that waives trading fees on up to $10k of monthly Buy/Sell/Convert volume and boosts stablecoin rewards. Spreads and payment-processing fees still apply even on Kraken+. - **Standard trading** — Pay per trade · All traders No subscription; fees vary by product and 30-day volume - Spot margin: 0.01% to 0.05% to open, rollover fee every 4 hours - Futures: maker-taker fees that drop with 30-day volume - Up to 10x spot margin, long or short - 48+ crypto assets accepted as margin collateral - **Kraken+** — $4.99/mo or $49.99/yr · Active retail investors Zero trading fees on up to $10k/month of volume - 0% transaction fees up to $10k/month (Buy/Sell/Convert) - Boosted stablecoin rewards up to 3.75% APY on USDG/USDC/RLUSD - Exclusive airdrops via Kraken Reef - Faster customer support - Early access to new tools such as Atlas - Free 30-day trial - Spreads and payment-processing fees still apply Good to know: Free 30-day trial on Kraken+, then $4.99/month; cancel anytime; Monthly billing and the free trial are mobile-app only; Kraken Web supports annual plans; Kraken+ zero-fee allowance covers Buy/Sell/Convert, not Spot/Futures/API/OTC on Kraken Pro; USD to USDG conversions are zero-fee and do not count against the allowance; Spot margin and futures availability vary by region under CFTC framework ## Competition **The full-stack answer to Coinbase and the offshore perps crowd** Kraken's most obvious rival is Coinbase, the larger, already-public US exchange, and the comparison is the frame for its whole IPO story. Against offshore venues like Binance and Bybit, Kraken's pitch is the opposite of theirs: regulated, onshore, and transparent rather than fast and jurisdiction-shopping. The edge it keeps returning to is ownership of the stack. By owning the exchange, clearinghouse, and broker for US perps, Kraken can offer regulated products competitors have to source from third parties, and its 14-year track record with no major breach is a moat that money cannot buy quickly. ### Their edge - **Owns its US derivatives stack** — Payward owns Bitnomial (exchange and clearinghouse) and NinjaTrader (broker), so it offers regulated US perps without third-party intermediaries. - **Long clean-security record** — 14+ years operating with no major breach and a top-tier CER security score, in an industry defined by exchange failures. - **Transparency as a product** — Ran the industry's first Proof of Reserves audit and states it does not sell personal data. ### Where they're betting - Full-stack regulated brokerage (crypto, stocks, futures, payments) - Onshore US perpetual futures - Institutional custody and prime - A planned public listing ## Proof **The numbers Kraken puts on the table** Kraken's credibility case is built on a few hard numbers it repeats everywhere. It has run since 2011, serves 13+ million clients, has cleared $2T+ in total transaction volume, and ran the industry's first Proof of Reserves audit. Third parties back the security claim more than the marketing does: Kraken scores 90 out of 100 on the CER exchange security review and has avoided the catastrophic hacks that sank other venues. Forbes voted it a best crypto platform, and the clean-breach record over 14 years is the single stat that does the most work. ## What People Say **Loved for security and UI, dinged hard on support** The reviews land in a consistent spot: people trust Kraken and like using it, but they get frustrated when something goes wrong. The praise clusters around a clean app and UI, real transparency and Proof of Reserves, and a security reputation that ranks near the top of the industry. The complaints are just as recurring. Slow customer support is the loudest one, with users describing being locked out for hours or days, and there are gripes about fees and occasional app lag during trades. Availability is spotty too: several US states restrict staking, and a couple bar the platform entirely. Strong product, shaky service, is the fair summary. ## Funding **$20B on the table, and an IPO that keeps getting rescheduled** Kraken's money story in 2025 and 2026 is really an IPO story with detours. In November 2024 it raised $800M across two tranches from backers including Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, and Tribe Capital, and Citadel Securities later added a $200M strategic investment at a $20 billion valuation. The path to public has been bumpy. Parent Payward confidentially filed an S-1 in November 2025, then froze the plan in March 2026 on tough market conditions, and by May was raising fresh capital while co-CEO Arjun Sethi called the company 80% ready to list. Valuation signals are mixed: a Deutsche Borse secondary implied roughly $13.3B, below the $20B other rounds carried. Along the way Payward bought Reap for $600M and Bitnomial for $550M to fill out the stack before going public. ## Team & Culture **Remote-first since day one, and it treats that as the strategy** Kraken is not remote-friendly, it is remote-first, and it makes the distinction a point of pride. The company hires globally with no headquarters attendance required, pays a competitive salary regardless of location, and lets employees take part of that pay in crypto. Its self-described culture prizes independent thinking, extreme ownership, radical transparency, and a written, async way of working. The mission line is consistent across every careers page: accelerate the global adoption of crypto so everyone can reach financial freedom and inclusion. Hiring is a structured virtual gauntlet, from CV screen to a practical case study, and candidates are expected to dogfood the products before they show up. Right now it is hiring across engineering, data, AI, design, operations, compliance, and marketing, spread across the UK, US, Ireland, Poland, Canada, Brazil, and APAC. ## Compensation **Global pay in USD or crypto, with equity on most roles** Disclosed US bands put engineering roughly between $96k and $254k and product and design around $96k to $192k, with operations and senior individual roles reaching into the high $200ks. Kraken says it pays a competitive salary regardless of location, which flattens the usual geography discount for a globally remote team. The part worth watching is the rest of the package. Most roles come with equity grants, and Kraken offers the unusual option of being paid in crypto, so the total comp is base plus equity plus an optional crypto tilt rather than salary alone. ## Security & Legal **Payward, Inc. and a maze of regulated entities** The registered entity behind everything is Payward, Inc., operating through a group of local subsidiaries so the entity you contract with depends on your product and jurisdiction. US equities run through Kraken Securities LLC (FINRA/SIPC), US perpetual futures through NinjaTrader Clearing d/b/a Kraken Derivatives US (a CFTC-registered FCM), and MiFID II instruments in Europe through Payward Europe Digital Solutions. On data, Kraken states plainly that it does not sell personal data, and its privacy program spans the usual heavy KYC and AML collection you would expect from a regulated exchange. The security posture leans on MPC and HSM-based key storage for custody, with assets segregated and bankruptcy-remote for institutional clients. ## In the News **An IPO on pause and a stack getting bought together** Most of the recent coverage tracks two threads: whether and when Kraken goes public, and how aggressively Payward is buying up the pieces around its exchange. The IPO froze in March 2026, then the funding chatter resumed at a $20 billion valuation by May, keeping the listing question open. Alongside that, the acquisitions of Reap and Bitnomial signaled that Kraken wants to own payments and derivatives infrastructure outright rather than rent it. ### Coverage - [Kraken parent Payward seeks fresh funding at $20 billion valuation ahead of planned IPO](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/05/08/kraken-parent-payward-seeks-fresh-funding-at-usd20-billion-valuation-ahead-of-potential-ipo) — CoinDesk (2026-05-11) - [Crypto exchange Kraken freezes multibillion-dollar IPO plan due to difficult market conditions](https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/03/17/crypto-exchange-kraken-freezes-multibillion-dollar-ipo-plan-due-to-difficult-market-conditions) — CoinDesk (2026-03-18) - [Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi preparing firm for an IPO](https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/09/25/kraken-ipo-ceo/) — Fortune (2025-09-25) - [Kraken Appoints Arjun Sethi as Co-CEO to Accelerate Company Mission and Growth](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241030235650/en/Kraken-Appoints-Arjun-Sethi-as-Co-CEO-to-Accelerate-Company-Mission-and-Growth) — Business Wire (2024-10-30) - [Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, on building the Nasdaq of crypto](https://sacra.com/research/arjun-sethi-kraken-nasdaq-of-crypto/) — Sacra - [Kraken Review: Features, Pros and Cons](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/kraken-review/) — Forbes Advisor ## Outlook **Can a 14-year exchange finish becoming a full-stack broker?** Kraken's next chapter hinges on execution across a lot of new surfaces at once: onshore US perps, equities, payments, and a public listing, all while defending the trust record that is its best asset. The full-stack, own-the-licenses strategy is a real differentiator if it holds together. The watch items are just as clear. The IPO timing is at the mercy of the market, the valuation has wobbled between $13B and $20B, and the customer-support complaints are the kind of thing that gets louder as a company scales into stocks and banking. If Kraken fixes service while it ships regulated products competitors cannot, the Nasdaq-of-crypto pitch has legs. ## Company details - **Mission:** Accelerate the global adoption of crypto, so that everyone can achieve financial freedom and inclusion. - **Products:** Kraken (Consumer), Kraken Pro, Kraken Futures / Perpetuals, Kraken Institutional / Prime, Kraken Custody, Kraken+, Krak Card, Kraken DEX, Kraken CLI - **Customer segments:** Retail investors, Professional and active traders, Institutions, Family offices, Hedge funds, Developers and AI agents, Creators and affiliates - **Buyers / users:** First-time crypto buyers, Active and pro traders, Institutional trading desks, Ultra-high-net-worth individuals, Creators and KOLs - **Competitors:** Coinbase, Binance, Bybit, Gemini, Crypto.com - **What sets them apart:** Owns the exchange, clearinghouse, and broker for onshore US perpetual futures; 14+ year track record with no major security breach; Industry's first Proof of Reserves program; Remote-first globally, hiring without location constraints; One account spanning crypto, stocks, futures, and payments - **Tech stack:** Proof of Reserves, MPC key storage, HSM key storage - **Integrations:** Koinly, impact.com, Circle (USDC), Global Dollar Network (USDG) ## Open roles (66) - [Sr Brand Designer - Krak](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/653f3c74-0b7f-4856-8716-edfc5d2319af) — Remote - [Data Analyst, Product](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/7c697b76-8d13-4825-808d-0d1dcd98ffd0) — Remote - [Growth Workflow Manager, Performance & Paid](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/bbc59e3b-f26c-445e-b566-e45b20ef555e) — Remote - [Manager, Policy & Government Relations - Singapore](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/b8687035-0d4a-415e-93bf-34510ff26939) — Remote - [Chief Operating Officer, UK](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/74f74142-7eed-4222-a742-9abf03d3d078) — Remote - [Sr Brand Designer - Krak](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/8ed4c65b-aaac-40d0-9d41-423683b7a1bd) — Remote - [Data Analyst, Product](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/12183803-a608-47fe-8b4f-a72be298d406) — Remote - [Senior AI Engineer - 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Consumer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/7788c9a6-235c-467b-9e3a-cb69c5700e7d) — Remote - [Compliance Monitoring Officer, Payward Europe Solutions Ltd](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/026130b9-40b0-4222-bae7-2b632bb37623) — Remote - [Senior Product Manager - Consumer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/2bb8eb65-0d23-4371-a45d-0cd7c17bb602) — Remote - [Director, Paid Marketing](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/5e07a439-ae65-4f08-bb5e-edff883d12bb) — Remote - [Snr QA Automation Engineer - Pro](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/b43e32c0-5562-4f8b-a26f-c66b5f68c935) — Remote - [Senior SOX Auditor - Business Process Controls](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/726ebf86-4685-403e-bde2-b233896412bc) — Remote - [Deal Lead, Corporate Development](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/06dfb995-23dd-42c4-ba37-635563c64146) — Remote - [Senior Software Engineer - Rust - Payward Services](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/d6d4cda0-81c5-4b88-9af5-f3bc1d48e1bc) — Remote - [Executive Assistant](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/dafebaed-af62-44fe-a8fe-8ae120ca08c6) — Remote - [Deal Lead, Corporate Development](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/37abda0c-ef4d-4bbe-9fb4-e6cb64c1acbe) — Remote - [M&A Collaboration & Security Platforms Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/a5ee74c9-df6e-435e-9742-0b1d95c28462) — Remote - [IAM Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/1a8154b4-e2e4-40c3-bbf0-773d75338d81) — Remote - [M&A Collaboration & Security Platforms Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/a06838e0-053c-4b11-9934-bfa30c95164d) — Remote - [IAM Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/d39ac0dc-7131-4c66-8c84-5a3971dd199f) — Remote - [Senior Software Engineer - Frontend - Consumer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/acf80ca2-7073-49aa-ab4a-7064f852d94f) — Remote - [Senior Software Engineer – AI Infrastructure](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/d62250a9-363c-43b0-b3de-958e3cc9f97b) — Remote - [SOX Auditor - IT Controls Manager](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/59df8379-a9b3-4967-b64d-19b94e9d0cc4) — Remote - [AI Agents Solutions Architect - Compliance](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/bd1f8aca-7a8d-4127-92c5-8e0dcc3771f3) — Remote - [Site Reliability Engineer - Core Infrastructure](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/02e188b8-1752-4f69-a206-221dd07f398b) — Remote - [Senior Analyst, Security Compliance](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/8f237e3a-9f73-451f-a210-2cea7442fc52) — Remote - [SOX Auditor - IT Controls Manager](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/56c2aa8a-8a6a-4700-ad75-eeb941b43613) — Remote - [Senior Engineering Manager - Frontend - Pro](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/6555e5e5-58a1-4419-86c6-fc232b4ea641) — Remote - [Mobile Design Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/95b0206c-8168-49d5-8e6c-e0c5ff885cf6) — Remote - [Business Operations & Integration Lead](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/9b731ef0-5b04-4323-a82f-507cca63c4cc) — Remote - [AI Agents Solutions Architect - Finance](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/d00e0127-f2ad-427b-bb68-512f2883bd26) — Remote - [Senior Analyst, Security Compliance](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/13b78c74-0e27-46c6-be6c-174c4f19bec5) — Remote - [Mobile Design Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/kraken.com/3e769962-edad-47c1-898a-662208902b1c) — Remote _…and 16 more at https://feeny.ai/companies/kraken/jobs_ --- _Source: https://feeny.ai/companies/kraken · profile updated 2026-07-02_