PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024

Bitcoin Daily: Kraken Weighs Direct Listing In 2022; Robinhood Now Counts 9.5 Million Crypto Traders

Bitcoin exchange Kraken is looking at going public via a direct listing next year, CNBC reported.

The recent surge in bitcoin’s value has contributed to Kraken’s plans, as the company is one of the biggest crypto exchanges and now boasts over 6 million clients, according to CNBC. CEO and Co-Founder Jesse Powell said the bitcoin rally had significantly impacted the firm in a positive way.

The company posted a direct revenue of $1.8 billion in the first quarter — more than it made for the entirety of 2020, CNBC reported.

In other news, Robinhood saw a new high of 9.5 million users trading cryptocurrency on the online stock service in the first quarter of 2021, according to a company blog post. That’s compared to 1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The company wrote in the post that its founders were enthralled with the idea of blockchain technology being a way to decentralize digital payments and give everyone access to financial services.

Meanwhile, Puremarkets, which trades as Pure Digital, has entered into an agreement with Currenex, which offers high-performance trading technology, for Currenex “to provide the trading infrastructure as technology provider for Pure Digital’s new and unique wholesale digital currency trading platform,” according to a press release.

The platform is planned to be a “fully automated, high throughput OTC market for digital assets and cryptocurrencies with physical delivery and bank custody,” the release stated.

Lastly, MoneyLion will help users buy, sell and earn digital currencies through new its data-driven digital financial platform, according to a press release.

That will come with a new strategic investment the company made in regulated digital asset settlement provider Zero Hash, which will allow MoneyLion to power its cryptocurrency offering as part of an all-in-one digital financial platform. The new suite of products will be integrated across the company’s digital financial platform, the release stated.

MoneyLion will let members invest through buying and selling digital assets, and earn crypto through found money strategies, including a rewards program letting users earn digital assets, and spending roundups that let users round up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar using crypto investments as a baseline.

PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024