Kraken Institutional Debuts Custody Services in UK, Australia Crypto Markets

Kraken Institutional, the specialized division serving institutional investors of US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has announced the international expansion of its custody services into the UK and Australia.

This step represents its first project after its first launch earlier this year.

Kraken Custody Expansion

According to the official press releaseInstitutional clients in the UK and Australia can take advantage of Kraken Custody to securely store, manage and transfer their crypto assets starting July 18.

Commenting on the platform’s decision to expand its footprint, Tim Ogilvie, President of Kraken, said:

“Kraken has long had a strong presence in the UK and Australia, so these were prime destinations for Kraken Custody to expand into. Both markets have well-established institutional crypto scenes and we expect Kraken Custody’s local launch to allow them to further increase their participation in the asset class.”

Kraken Custody is facilitated by Kraken Financial, a US state-chartered bank that introduced qualified custodial services in select US states in March of this year. In the new jurisdictions of the UK and Australia, Kraken Financial will provide custodial services directly, ensuring that funds and assets are held separately from the exchange and available for withdrawal at any time.

Currently, Kraken Custody supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USDC (ERC20). The platform plans to integrate additional assets later this year.

Partnerships, IPOs, and more

Earlier this week, Kraken revealed its partnership with Atletico Madrid, a prominent Spanish football club. Starting with the upcoming La Liga season scheduled for mid-August this year, the U.S.-based crypto exchange will serve as the club’s official crypto and Web3 partner, as well as its official sleeve partner.

The main goal of this partnership is to build connections between the crypto industry and the world of sports with a focus on opening up “huge opportunities” for Spanish football fans and Kraken’s user base alike.

Recent reports also indicated that Kraken is exploring the possibility of raising over $100 million in its final funding round before launching a potential IPO.

Furthermore, Kraken also launched its self-custodial mobile wallet, called the “Kraken Wallet,” in April of this year. This new wallet allows users to transact their tokens, NFTs, and DeFi activities across different blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Dogecoin, Base, Solana, and Arbitrum.