In a bid to expand its regulatory licensing in the U.S., cryptocurrency exchange Kraken said Thursday it’s buying TradeStation Crypto, the digital assets unit of TradeStation Group, part of Monex Group (OTCPK:MNXBF).
The transaction is part of our efforts to accelerate our U.S. presence and will unlock further growth and new product opportunities for Kraken in the U.S,” a Kraken spokesperson told Seeking Alpha in an emailed statement.
Though TradeStation’s crypto business has secured money transmitter and other types of regulatory licenses in many U.S. states over the last few years, it was slapped with a $1.5M penalty to settle the U.S. Securities and Commission’s charges accusing the Florida-based company of failing to register a crypto lending product before offering it to investors.
Kraken, too, was charged by the SEC in November 2023 for allegedly commingling customer money with its own while operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency.