Less than two weeks ago, Bitcoin exchange Kraken announced the purchase of U.S. Coinsetter and the Canadian CaVirtex exchanges, in what may just be, one of the biggest acquisitions in the bitcoin sector.
Prior to this purchase, Kraken focused on their European market, where they traded around 5000-7000 bitcoin per day. Now, that the companies have all integrated into a single one, the traded amounts have increased considerably.
Well, recent reports indicate that a new deal has been made. With this in mid, Kraken, the global bitcoin exchange has managed to secure a multi-million dollar agreement with the folks behind SBI investment, which is the venture capital arm of the SBI Holdings department. For those who do not know, this represents the world’s first web-based financial conglomerate, uniting financial firms from all around the world. The company has also reported that they have an operating revenue of around $2bn, thus placing them in the same list with some of the top world’s companies.
By scoring this partnership and investment, Kraken hopes that they’ll reach another milestone in the year of 2016. To take advantage of the pipe of funds that the exchange has access to now, over the next couple of months, they’ll be concentrating on scaling their business in areas from all around the world. This will be done by establishing all the necessary infrastructure, but also by making sure that the exchange is following all the needed regulation. By gathering more resources, Kraken will be able to finally fulfil the growing demands of the market, when people from all around the world are looking to invest into bitcoin.
In a recent interview, the CEO of Kraken, Jesse Powell stated that: “SBI’s investment means a lot to us. We’re proud to have such a strong strategic partner leading our round. It’s a fantastic first step toward completing Series B, which will ultimately enable us to scale our business worldwide. Kraken will be prepared to meet the fast-increasing demands of an emerging ecosystem of blockchain-enabled assets.”
Other than Kraken, SBI Holdings also has partnerships with other financial brands, including E-Loan, MorningStar, E-Trade and more. By getting stakes in Kraken as well, the conglomerate will get access to even more influence, and better establish its presence on the financial market, while slowly also becoming a prominent member of the FinTech sector.
While this partnership can be questioned by some, as it tends to make bitcoin less decentralized, the main benefit for the industry is access to even better and well-structured services, but also an increase in the popularity of bitcoin, and its underlying system, the Blockchain.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what do you personally think about this multi-million dollar deal between the two companies? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.