The popular exchange Kraken purchased the cryptocurrency derivative trading platform Crypto Facilities Ltd. In order to make the purchase, Kraken paid at least $100 million. However, the exact sum has not been informed. The announcement was made by Kraken in a recent press release.
Kraken Purchases Crypto Facilities
Kraken, one of the largest digital currency platforms in the market has recently announced the acquisition of Crypto Facilities. This derivatives trading platform and index provider will allow Kraken to create a global leader in crypto spot and futures trading.
Crypto Facilities was the first regulated company to offer Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) futures trading. At the same time, the firm provides information to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and their CF Bitcoin Reference Rate for Bitcoin Futures.
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell commented about the acquisition:
“I’m thrilled to welcome the Crypto Facilities team into the Kraken family. We are excited to introduce eligible clients to these industry leading futures and index products, Over the coming months, our teams will continue to enhance and expand these offerings. We’ve got great stuff in store for traders and institutional clients in 2019.”
The decision to purchase this company is very important for the company. Indeed, exchanges are facing some important challenges this year since the market is experiencing the longest bear trend ever in Bitcoin’s history.
According to Powell, Kraken will be able to add more assets to the trading platform. With a team of over 100 developers, technical integrations with other virtual currencies will be performed in an easier way. As trading volume dropped in most of the exchanges in the market, adding new assets is a way to increase the funds collected through fees. At the same time, it attracts more users and investors.
At the same time, with this purchase, users will have the possibility to trade futures on nights and weekends. Now it is possible to do it just during the days of the week and for a limited time.
Kraken is currently the 44th largest cryptocurrency exchange in the market in terms of trading volume. According to data provided by CoinMarketCap, Kraken handled $44 million in trading volume in the last 24 hours. This is less than ten percent of what Binance handled during the same period of time.
