Kraken Launches Institutional Services Division to Compete for Bitcoin ETF Market Share
Kraken has unveiled a new division dedicated to providing services to institutional clients as it seeks to gain a foothold in the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) market.
In a recent blog post , the exchange said the newly-formed Kraken Institutional brand incorporates its existing institutional offerings, including spot and over-the-counter trading, as well as crypto staking services (for clients outside the United States).
The division primarily targets asset managers, hedge funds, and high net-worth individuals.
Tim Ogilvie, co-founder of Staked, a company acquired by Kraken in December 2021, will lead the Kraken Institutional division.
In a statement, Ogilvie emphasized the rapid growth of institutional adoption in the crypto space and attributed it, in part, to the recent approval of Bitcoin ETFs.
Kraken Institutional is open for business! Excited to help our partners grow their crypto businesses! https://t.co/eV5zU3nR5v
— Tim Ogilvie (@Tim_Ogilvie) February 27, 2024
Coinbase, which serves as the custodian for eight of the ten newly launched Bitcoin ETFs, is expected to reap substantial earnings in the coming year.
With its new institutional services division, Kraken aims to compete with Coinbase Institutional and Coinbase Prime, which were established in 2021 to cater to institutional investors.
Kraken Institutional also faces competition from Binance Institutional, launched in mid-2022, which provides tailored solutions for institutional users such as asset managers, brokers, hedge funds, family offices, liquidity providers, and proprietary trading firms.
In the blog post, Ogilvie outlined Kraken Institutional’s plans to introduce a “qualified custody” service, backed by Kraken Financial, a Special
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