Kraken Eats Up Two American Exchanges and It’s a Big Deal

News and Analysis
20.01.2016

San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange has announced it acquired another American exchange, Coinsetter. This includes Canadian Cavirtex in the deal as well, as it had been acquired by Coinsetter in April 2015. Kraken has also announced it enters into partnership with US-based financial startup SynapsePay, which claims it facilitates interbank money remittances.

The acquisition finally gives the green light to operate in the US. Though initially intended to work as an American exchange since its beta platform launch in 2013, Kraken failed to comply with regulatory requirements on American companies. This lead to Kraken’s expansion in Europe, which had made it the world’s biggest exchange in terms of Euro trading.

However, Kraken still rejects any customers from New York due to regulations imposed by notorious BitLicense. For now, Kraken operates only in 37 out of 50 states, as well as in Washington D.C.

According to the official post on Kraken’s blog, the company intends to absorb Coinsetter and Cavirtex brands completely.

Speaking about the acquisition, Jesse Powell, Kraken CEO, stated:

“The consolidation of these three veteran giants is the largest exchange deal to date. Combined, we represent over thirteen years of bitcoin exchange experience in an industry that is only seven years old. Kraken has big, exciting plans for 2016. This year we will fully leverage what we’ve built as the world’s most trusted and secure bitcoin exchange.”

Cavirtex is Canada’s first bitcoin exchange founded as early as in 2011. Its operations were focused on maintaining comprehensive security of operations. Coninsetter is a New York-based company operating since 2012. It managed to become one of the most successful exchanges in the domestic market of the US.

“Before with Cavirtex you were only able to trade the Bitcoin-Canadian dollar pair,” says Kyle Kemper, senior vice-president of global business development at Coinsetter.

“Now Canadians will also be able to trade Bitcoin-U.S. dollar, Bitcoin-euro, Bitcoin-Great British pound, Bitcoin-Japanese yen,” he adds.

However, Coinsetter failed to successfully compete against its more prominent competitors on a global scale. Being techology-focused, the company hopes the acquisition might leverage its proprietary technological solutions to their existing clientele.

Jaron Lukasiewicz, CEO at Coinsetter, stated:

“I’m excited what our acquisition by Kraken means for Coinsetter and Cavirtex customers, who will all benefit from Kraken’s leading platform, global team and unparalleled customer service. For years, the teams at Coinsetter and Cavirtex have worked closely with traders, bitcoin companies and investors to advance the burgeoning bitcoin space in North America. We are confident that Kraken is the right world-class company with the resources, vision and drive to successfully carry our torch far into the future.”

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