Kraken acquires Staked in one of the “largest deals in the history of crypto”

Cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken, has announced its acquisition of Staked, a crypto staking and lending platform, for an undisclosed amount, describing the deal as “one of the largest crypto industry acquisitions to date”.

“We are excited to add Staked to our portfolio of yield products, which has seen great uptake by a growing population of crypto investors,” Jesse Powell, CEO, and co-founder of Kraken, said.

“Staked is highly complementary to our existing staking business and will allow us to further strengthen our product offering through world-class infrastructure for clients who prefer to retain custody of their staked assets.

“We’re excited to welcome Staked’s clients to Kraken and believe that they will benefit from access to our wider portfolio of products as they seek to broaden their engagement with digital assets.”

The acquisition of Staked marks the fifth acquisition in 2021 for Kraken and expands its amount of supported staking networks, whilst also enabling a non-custodial alternative to Kraken’s existing custodial staking service.

Kraken’s combined spot, margin, and futures trading volume grew by over 430 per cent in 2021. Since the beginning of the year, Kraken’s staking business grew by more than 950 per cent to nearly US$16 billion in November, resulting in token rewards valued at more than US$500 million being paid out to their clients.

“The success of our staking business demonstrates that Kraken has evolved into much more than a custodian and trading venue,” said Powell.

“We’ve become a holistic crypto platform with a diverse range of products that serves the needs of retail, professional, and institutional clients. Heading into the second decade in our company’s history, I’m excited about the future and Kraken’s continued support of the world’s shift to Web3 and DeFi.”