Kraken To Re-Enter The European Market By Applying For A New License

Kraken, following Brexit, seeks another license to re-surface in the European market with top choices, including Luxembourg, Malta, and Ireland.

Kraken is the second top crypto exchange in the United States by its trading volume. It is presently seeking a new license to re-enter the European market towards the end of 2021. Kraken has entered into a dialogue with regulators in various European countries to this effect.

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The exchange, according to Kraken’s spokesperson, initially operates in Europe. But its European clients can currently access it only through an entity registered with UK’s FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).

Kraken claims to have been complying with the applicable requirements of 5AMLD – EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The exit of Great Britain from the E.U. signifies that Kraken needs to source for re-entering the continent. Thus exchange’s spokesperson said earlier that;

“Kraken is an exchange that is regulatory compliant and exists in almost 190 jurisdictions across the globe. Though, it maintains constructive and proactive dialogues with crypto regulators in the fast-growing European regulatory landscape.’ He added that the firm plans always to be and remain regulatory compliant.”

The Kraken founder and CEO Jesse Powell stated that the company is working to obtain a European country license. He made this known during an interview with Handelsblatt, a German Business publication.

Powell added that the Kraken exchange seeks to re-enter Europe by the end of 202. It will go with the Republic of Ireland, Malta, and Luxembourg, among possible countries, to award such a license. However, they are yet to fix an official date as the talk still goes on.

In the past June, Coinbase received a trading and crypto custody license for its new German division. It’s the biggest crypto exchange in the United States and exchange’s main competitor with BaFin license-the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. Coinbase also offers services to users across other European Countries.

Powell emphasized that the exchange is resistant to toll the same path as Coinbase. He added that the exchange also talked with BaFin but saw Germany’s climate condition to be harsh and restrictive. As a result, they found it too expensive to operate there with these conditions.

The crypto exchange was planning to raise fresh capital to raise the market valuation of San Francisco-based Company above $10 billion. This was revealed by a report earlier this year, which raised speculations that the exchange will finally go public. This was similar to the action Coinbase took in April via direct listing.

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On the listing, Powell confirmed that he plans to do something similar. However, he later accepted possible adjustments on the initial plans as he takes a closer look at a more traditional initial public offering.