Kraken Strengthens European Presence Through Partnership with DLT Finance

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced a new strategic partnership with DLT Finance, a crypto service provider in Germany, to double down on its European expansion strategy.

DLT Finance is a brand of leading BaFin-licensed crypto service providers DLT Securities GmbH and DLT Custody GmbH, which offer digital asset prime brokerage and crypto custody services in the region.

Through the partnership, Kraken expects to offer its range of crypto products to German users via dedicated offerings powered by DLT Finance, starting around July 10, 2024.

David Ripley, CEO at Kraken, said: "Collaborating with industry-leading partners is a vital component of our mission to accelerate the global adoption of crypto. Over 5% of Germans already own cryptoassets, and we're confident our innovative product suite – along with excellent local language client service support – will be attractive to prospective clients as crypto continues to become more mainstream across Europe. With this partnership, German clients get access to crypto with certainty that they are trading with a best-in-class offering as Germany transitions toward a new pan-European regulatory framework."

Marius Sewing, Co-Founder & CEO at DLT Finance, said: "An integral part of our service is to make fully regulated financial market infrastructure for brokerage and custody of digital assets available to industry-leading partners. Building on our commitment toward the highest security standards, regulatory compliance and technological excellence, this partnership perfectly epitomizes DLT Finance's mission of driving regulated and compliant digital asset adoption in the European Union. We are thrilled to embark on this joint endeavor with Kraken and look forward to advancing the landscape of digital asset adoption, together."

As part of its European expansion strategy, Kraken had previously announced its planned acquisition of Coin Meester B.V. (BCM), one of the Netherlands' oldest registered crypto brokers, in October last year.

However, Kraken's ambitions extend beyond Europe. Earlier this month, Kraken also revealed that it was acquiring TradeStation Crypto​, the digital asset business unit of online broker TradeStation, to expand its regulatory licensing in the U.S.. Headquartered in Florida, TradeStation Crypto has obtained money transmission and other types of regulatory licenses in most U.S. states over the past few years.