Kraken

Welcome to our Kraken news page. Here you'll find some of our featured Kraken Exchange content pieces as well as all our latest Kraken Crypto Exchange posts.

Kraken Sees Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Futures Crack Over $150 Million in Activity

Who said crypto futures were not popular? Not only Bitcoin futures move a lot of money around, but it looks like futures for Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are also very popular on the Kraken Exchange, one of the only companies in the market which offers this kind of investment.

According to a new report made by Coindesk, Crypto Facilities, a subsidiary of the Kraken Exchange, has seen its volume of BCH and LTC-based crypto futures spike recently. The company, which also offers data about the BTC and ETH market to the CME Group, offers derivatives products for years so far, but the company had not seen such a surge in altcoin futures until now.

Sui Chung told Coindesk that Litecoin futures were launched during June 2018 and Bitcoin Cash futures were launched soon after, but their volume was always dwarfed by both Ethereum and Bitcoin. However, earlier this year Kraken took over Crypto Facilities after their acquisition and this has drastically impacted the market of the exchange.

Many Kraken users went onboard the new company, which gave it a lot of exposure in the market and they received investors from these two communities, which had a very strong interest in these derivatives that the company was offering.

This way, in just a couple of months, the volume from LTC futures went from around $15 million USD monthly to $100 million and the BCH volume went from around $10 million to $50 million USD. This marked an increase of over 400% in the volume of these two derivative products, which are now worth around $150 million USD per month.

There seems to be more here than just the Kraken acquisition, though. Chung affirmed that Crypto Facilities is one of the only companies to offer altcoin futures that is regulated in the market. All contracts are settled by cash and both sides pay up the base asset. This way, people get the actual crypto when the contracts expire.

This is different from CME and CBOE do, as they pay their customers with fiat currency. Currently, these are the two most important futures providers in the market. Because of this, Chung affirms that there is a strong demand for the product that is being offered by his company.

Chung described this as a “broad trend”. According to him, we will see more and more companies which are fully regulated paying out in cryptos soon.

Not All Altcoin Futures Are Becoming Popular

It should be noted that these are specific altcoins which are being successful. Most of them are still not and this includes some pretty big ones like Ripple’s XRP tokens. The demand for XRP futures is stable this year, despite BCH and LTC seeing their demands going up a lot.

The team of the company affirmed that nothing has changed with the acquisition in this case. XRP is, indeed, growing a bit, but a lot less than the others, which makes it maintain its share of the market instead of losing it.

In fact, all trading is going up. The company has seen a surge of 500% in its volume since the acquisition by Kraken.

If XRP is stable and LTC and BCH are going up, this could mean that the popular BTC and ETH futures may be decreasing in volume, which would not be surprising. This year, altcoins are seeing a lot of action but Bitcoin remains very stable and this could turn it into a token that is less interesting for traders expecting to see prices going up.

Potential for Even More Growth

Crypto Facilities was just acquired by Kraken, which means that there is space for the company to grow a lot more than it does right now. Chung is currently expecting a big influx of institutional money to flow to the company in the near future.

According to him, several funds and institutional actors have been contacting the company in the last few weeks. These companies are looking for a safe way to “dip their toes” in the crypto market and Chung will obviously do as he can to draw these companies to Crypto Facilities in order to ramp up the volume of the assets even more.

Their interest may be mostly preliminary, but it is still serious and they may be just starting to explore, but they are not being driven by hype like most investors were in 2017. This is significant and will certainly impact the company in a positive light.

These are, Chung affirms, companies that made their homework and know what it takes to really explore the crypto market. Because of this, as soon as they are really ready, they will be instrumental in order to help the company to grow.

https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/bitcoin-btc-ethereum-eth-ripple-xrp-value-forecast-top-crypto-coin-price-chart-analysis-today/

Kraken Exchange Acquistion Crypto Facilities' Futures Trading Reaches $1 Billion In Volume 1 Month In

Kraken Crypto Exchange Welcomed Futures Trading Only A Month Ago, But Reaches $1 Billion

Crypto Facilities recently announced that they were acquired by the Kraken crypto exchange last month. The platform provided crypto futures, enabling the trading of futures on Kraken as soon as the acquisition went through. Now, as the first month comes to a close, Kraken has managed to see such “tremendous growth” that the trading volume has nearly reached $1 billion.

Speaking to CoinDesk, the head of indices and pricing products, Sui Chung, said that the volume has skyrocketed by over 500% since the purchase by Kraken for $100 million. Much of the attention that Crypto Facilities has seen through the media is a result of their bitcoin and ether reference rates provided to CME Group. CME Group lists bitcoin futures contracts, which is how Kraken is able to do the same now.

In the last month, the nearly $1 billion in trading volume is a combination of all of the five products that are available to investors – Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. However, this is not just the largest coins by market cap, as Chung confirms that the daily users have even risen.

Chung credits much of the rise in revenue to the acquisition by Kraken, saying,

“I think obviously having the support of a major U.S. exchange helped and obviously Kraken bringing our product set to a very loyal user base … that Kraken branding carries a lot of weight … and also the fact that because we run contracts on the major five coins and take collateral on the major five coins … we pay out in help.”

The pre-acquisition trading numbers were not revealed, but Chung went on to describe the way that Crypto Facilities is checking the overall volume. First, they compared a five-day period, ending right before February 4^th, which is when the Kraken acquisition was announced. At the end of the period, the volumes rose by 565% for the trade total on the platform. Chung believes that these numbers are a good indication of what to expect through the months.

Bitcoin remains the most popular asset on the platform, but Ethereum and XRP have still been fairly successful. Chung says that their success has been partially due to Kraken, considering that they have one of the most liquid markets involving Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. While the two products are separate, the current support of Kraken only perpetuated the impressive volume.

As far as liquidity goes, Chung stated that the acquisition stirred up an increase of over 200% for the liquidity in contracts. Even the minor altcoins managed to benefit, as some of these contracts saw a 1,000% influx. For the whole company, there has been a growth of 400% in the user base, which is about 5,000 new customers, which are predominantly from Europe and Asia. The company does not make it possible to incorporate US nationals or corporates, due to the regulations established by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

A convenient aspect of the Kraken user base is that they know what they want. They have consistently stated to the platform what they want in their products, their features, and more, which makes Chung’s team more prepared to fulfill the demand. The feedback that they recent sometimes includes how the company can improve the availability of features, the user interface, or the tools, which Crypto Facilities works to keep updated.

Anyone signing up with the platform will be excited to know that more products are planned for the future, says Chung. No details have been set in stone yet, but the developers are listening to exactly what the user base wants. Now is the time to voice your needs on the platform for a service that caters to the investors.

https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/todays-coin-price-watch-btc-eth-xrp-and-bch-cryptocurrency-chart-predictions/

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell Mocks New York Regulators on Twitter After Report

Kraken Crypto Exchange Co-Founder Jesse Powell Blasts New York Regulators with Scathing Tweet

Jesse Powell, CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, tweeted an angry response to the New York Office of the Attorney General earlier today. Powell was responding to the NY AG’s report that cryptocurrency exchanges like Kraken were violating New York regulations.

https://twitter.com/jespow/status/1042450533120786432

Earlier this week, the New York Office of the Attorney General issued a report highlighting the results of their investigation into 13 different cryptocurrency exchanges. Of those 13 exchanges, only 10 responded to the NY AG’s request. The NY AG asked for exchanges to answer basic questions about their trading activity, fee structure, and conflicts of interest.

Kraken, along with Binance and Base.io, was one of three cryptocurrency exchanges that refused to answer questions from the NY AG.

Kraken allegedly responded to the NY AG by stating that they did not accept cryptocurrency trades from residents of New York. The NY AG investigated the issue and found this to be false: they were successfully able to make crypto trades on Kraken from New York.

Because of all of this controversy, Kraken, Gate.io, and Binance were all referred to the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) for further investigation. The DFS will now determine if the three exchanges are violating New York regulatory law. New York regulations require cryptocurrency exchanges operating within the state to have a BitLicense. Kraken does not have a BitLicense, even though they accept traders from New York.

Amidst all of this controversy, Jesse Powell decided it was a good time to mock the New York Office of the Attorney General on Twitter, comparing the legal organization to an abusive ex-girlfriend:

“NY is that abusive, controlling ex you broke up with 3 years ago but they keep stalking you, throwing shade on your new relationships, unable to accept that you have happily moved on and are better off without them. #getoverit.”

Yes, the CEO and co-founder of one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges on the planet really tweeted that to one of the most influential regulatory authorities in the country.

Powell was quote-tweeting the writeup from CoinDesk about the NY AG report.

Responses to the tweet varies. Most respondents expressed some degree of shock. Others expressed support for Powell and Kraken. Some people claimed it was ironic that the NY AG was going after cryptocurrency exchanges when they had previously declined to charge anyone on Wall Street involved with the 2008 financial crisis.

San Francisco-based Kraken hasn’t tweeted since September 17, and Powell hasn’t issued any public update to his tweet, nor has he deleted it.

“If You’re Trading on Kraken, Get Out”

Crypto exchange critic Bitfinexed responded to the controversy in his usual level-headed way by advocating an immediate run on Kraken’s reserves, saying:

“If you’re trading on Kraken, get out. Now. Withdraw right now. Stop everything on there. You’re not going to get a bigger warning. It’s a fraudulent exchange ran by an out of control conman.”

Bitfinexed has launched similar warnings over the past year, claiming that crypto exchange collapses are imminent or that the entire crypto market is about to implode. None of these things have happened.

Bitfinexed has been right about some things – like identifying exchanges that create their own liquidity and pointing out problems within Tether. However, he certainly has a flair for the dramatic and thrives off creating panic in the crypto community.

It’s Not Certain that Kraken Has Done Anything Wrong

Remember: the report from the New York Office of the Attorney General didn’t specifically highlight any problems with Kraken. Kraken just declined to answer the interview from the NY AG. The only “rule” Kraken appears to be violating is that they inadvertently accepted traders from New York state when they weren’t supposed to.

It’s possible that Kraken declined to answer the interview because they’re a fraudulent exchange committing all sorts of crimes. It’s also possible that the San Francisco-based exchange is completely compliant and above-board. Until the DFS investigation is complete, we won’t know for sure.

As for the claim by Bitfinexed that the company is “run by an out of control conman,” that also seems a bit dramatic. After all, it was just a single tweet – albeit a stupid one.

https://twitter.com/krakenfx/status/1042496022851739649

Stay tuned as this story of Kraken versus the New York Office of the Attorney General continues to unfold.

Kraken Exchange Opens Margin Trading for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP (Ripple)

The popular cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced that is launched margin trading for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and XRP. This would allow users to trade virtual currencies with funds that they do not actually have allowing them to make greater profits but amplifying their losses as well. The information was released in a blog post by the company on December 29.

Now there are eight assets that are available for being traded with margin, including Bitcoin (XBT), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Augur (REP), Monero (XMR) and Tether (USDT).

The leverage available for users will depend on their account verification level. Top tier accounts could have the possibility to leverage 500 BCH or 2.5 million XRP coins. Leverage levels start at 2x for Bitcoin and 5x for XRP.

As mentioned before, there are risks involved in margin trading. On the matter, the exchange wrote:

“Please note that BCH and XRP are not collateral currencies. This means you cannot open margin positions against the value of your BCH or XRP balances. For this reason, you should always maintain adequate balances of other collateral currencies to maintain your margin positions.”

XRP is continuously growing in a bear market that affected most of the virtual currencies in the space. A few days ago, Binance announced that XRP will be added as the quote currency. It can now be traded against Tron (XRP/TRX) and against Zcoin (XRP/XZC).

Furthermore, XRP was able to surpass Ethereum (ETH) as the second largest virtual currency in the market a few days ago. Although in past occasions when XRP surpassed Ethereum it could not sustain its position, this time was different. Since it surpassed Ethereum that it does not fall from the second place.

https://twitter.com/krakenfx/status/1078812947818913792

At the time of writing, XRP has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion and each coin can be purchased for $0.37. Bitcoin Cash is being traded close to $166 and it has a market cap of $2.91 billion.