Kraken Institutional Debuts Custody Services in UK, Australia Crypto Markets

Kraken Institutional, the specialized division catering to institutional investors of US-based crypto exchange Kraken, has announced the international expansion of its custody services into the UK and Australia.

This move marks its first venture following its initial launch earlier this year.

Kraken Custody’s Expansion

According to the official press release, institutional clients in the UK and Australia can utilize Kraken Custody to securely store, manage, and transfer their crypto assets starting July 18th.

Commenting on the platform’s decision to expand its foothold, Tim Ogilvie, Head of Kraken Institutional, said,

“Kraken has long had a strong presence in the UK and Australia, so they were the prime destinations to expand Kraken Custody to. Both markets have well-established institutional crypto scenes and we anticipate the local launch of Kraken Custody will enable them to increase their engagement in the asset class.”

Kraken Custody is facilitated through Kraken Financial, a US state-chartered bank that introduced qualified custody services in select US states in March this year. In the new jurisdictions of the UK and Australia, Kraken Financial will directly provide custody services, ensuring that funds and assets are held separately from the exchange and accessible for withdrawal at any time.

Currently, Kraken Custody supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USDC (ERC20). The platform plans to incorporate additional assets later in the year.

Partnerships, IPO, and More

Earlier this week, Kraken unveiled its partnership with Atlético de Madrid, a prominent Spanish football club. Starting from the upcoming La Liga season scheduled for mid-August this year, the US-based crypto exchange will serve as the club’s Official Crypto and Web3 Partner, as well as its Official Sleeve Partner.

The main objective of this partnership is to forge connections between the crypto industry and the sports realm with a focus on unlocking “significant opportunities” for Spanish football enthusiasts and Kraken’s user base alike.

Recent reports also indicated that Kraken is exploring the possibility of raising more than $100 million in its final funding round before potentially launching an IPO.

Besides, Kraken also launched its self-custodial mobile wallet, called “Kraken Wallet,” in April this year. This new wallet allows users to handle their tokens, NFTs, and DeFi activities across various blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Dogecoin, Base, Solana, and Arbitrum.