Kraken, the major global cryptocurrency exchange, has launched a mobile crypto trading application in a new move to boost industry adoption in the United States.
It has been reported that its new app is now available for most of the United States as well as other countries around the world for both iOS and Android users.
However, the app allows users to trade more than 50 cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), through smartphones. The move follows a rollout of the Kraken mobile app in Europe this January.
Jeremy Welch, the Chief Product Officer of Kraken, said:
“This consumer app is our first major foray into supporting wider consumer adoption in a much more simplified, easy-to-use interface.”
Welch said that the new app launch comes amid Kraken trading volumes growing more than sixfold year-to-date as of May.
He added:
“The last five months have been pretty unreal at Kraken. We’ve seen a surge in new clients and in all-time highs.”
Likewise, Kraken said that it has 7 million customers so far, making it one of the world’s largest crypto trading venues, competing with companies like Binance, Huobi, and Coinbase. The exchange is ranked the fourth-largest cryptocurrency trading platform by daily trading volumes, as of June 2.
Major global cryptocurrency exchange Kraken launches a mobile crypto trading app for U.S. residents to compete with Coinbase. https://t.co/YBAVZbAY9S — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) June 2, 2021
The report said that Kraken’s newly rolled-out app will not be supported all across the US, as the exchange does not offer services to residents of Washington and New York due to the “cost of maintaining regulatory compliance.” The company is registered as a money services business with the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and says it complies “with legal and regulatory requirements in all jurisdictions” of operation.
The new availability comes less than two months after Kraken’s major rival exchange, Coinbase, went public on Nasdaq in April. Subsequently, major investment trust RIT Capital Partners acquired a stake in Kraken, with RIT executive James Glass noting that the crypto exchange is reportedly set to go public through a direct listing in 2022.
Thus, Kraken was in talks for new funding that could double its valuation to $10 billion.
Source: Cointelegraph