Kraken: 2025, The Year of Regulatory Consolidation and Product Expansion?

The American exchange Kraken transformed its European presence in 2025. MiCA license obtained from the Central Bank of Ireland, deployment in the 30 EEA countries, launch of the Krak Card with Mastercard, tokenized stocks xStocks, Circle partnership for stablecoins: a review of a year positioning Kraken as a major player in the European market.

MiCA License: a passport for 30 European countries

On June 25, 2025, Kraken obtained its MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) license from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). This authorization marks a major turning point: Kraken becomes the first major global exchange to receive approval from this regulator known for its rigor.

“Obtaining a license from the Central Bank of Ireland, with its long tradition and experience as a rigorous financial regulator, is not just a matter of compliance. It is a strong signal of Kraken’s commitment to developing the crypto ecosystem through responsible innovation,” said Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken.

On August 13, 2025, Kraken activated its MiCA license across the 30 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA): the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. All European clients are now served by Kraken’s MiCA-regulated entity, under a unified regulatory framework.

This MiCA license is added to two other key authorizations obtained in 2025: a MiFID license (February 2025) allowing regulated derivatives to be offered to advanced traders, and an EMI license (Electronic Money Institution) (March 2025) for payment services and fiat currency operations. Together, these three licenses allow Kraken to offer a complete and regulated offer across the European Union.

xStocks: tokenized American stocks arrive in Europe

In September 2025, Kraken expanded its xStocks offer to European investors. This product, developed in partnership with the Swiss fintech Backed Finance, allows the acquisition of tokenized versions of American stocks and ETFs directly from the Kraken app.

At launch, 55 blue-chip stocks and 5 ETFs are available: Apple, Tesla, NVIDIA, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, as well as the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY). These assets are issued in the form of SPL tokens on the Solana blockchain, offering significant advantages compared to traditional circuits.

Extended trading: xStocks can be traded 24/5 on Kraken, well beyond Wall Street’s limited hours (6.5 hours per day). For users storing their tokens in a Solana-compatible wallet, trading is even possible 24/7 via DeFi protocols like Jupiter or Raydium.

Fractional investment: it is possible to acquire xStocks from only €1, without having to buy a whole share. This democratization allows small investors to access securities whose unit price can exceed several hundred dollars.

Reinvested dividends: dividends generated by the underlying stocks are automatically reinvested in the corresponding asset. Instead of receiving a cash payment, the investor’s token balance increases proportionally via a multiplier system managed by Backed Finance.

Since its launch, the xStocks platform has generated over $10 billion in trading volume, reflecting strong demand for tokenized traditional assets.

Strategic partnerships: Mastercard, Circle, Deutsche Börse

Krak Card: spend your cryptos everywhere with Mastercard

On November 25, 2025, Kraken officially launched the Krak Card, a Mastercard debit card allowing spending of more than 400 cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. Available to residents of the European Union and the United Kingdom, this card works at the 150 million merchants accepting Mastercard worldwide.

The Krak Card stands out by its total absence of fees for transactions and currency exchange, as well as cashback up to 1% on all purchases (excluding ATM withdrawals). Users can choose to receive this cashback in euros, British pounds, or directly in Bitcoin.

Innovative feature: multi-source payment. If a €100 purchase can only be covered by €80 in Bitcoin, the card automatically draws the remaining €20 from another asset of the user’s choice. This flexibility eliminates frictions linked to prior conversions.

Circle: strengthening stablecoin infrastructure

In September 2025, Kraken announced a partnership with Circle, issuer of the USDC and EURC stablecoins. The goal: deepen liquidity, reduce conversion fees, and introduce access to EURC, Circle’s euro-backed stablecoin.

This partnership is part of a broader dynamic: total stablecoin market capitalization exceeded $308 billion in December 2025, with an annual transaction volume over $4 trillion. Circle, registered as an electronic money institution in France, is the world’s first stablecoin issuer to comply with MiCA rules.

Deutsche Börse: bridge to traditional finance

In December 2025, Kraken and Deutsche Börse Group announced a strategic partnership aimed at connecting traditional financial markets and digital assets. The first phase integrates Kraken with 360T, Deutsche Börse’s forex trading platform, one of the largest worldwide. Kraken’s institutional clients thus gain access to bank-level currency liquidity.

Kraken Embed: white-label crypto for banks

In April 2025, Kraken launched Kraken Embed, a Crypto-as-a-Service solution allowing banks, brokers, and fintechs to integrate crypto trading on their own platforms in a few weeks, without developing internal infrastructure.

First partner: bunq, Europe’s second largest neobank. In April 2025, bunq launched “Bunq Crypto,” allowing its users to open an account and trade more than 300 cryptocurrencies in seconds. The service was deployed in the Netherlands, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and Belgium, with planned expansion to the rest of the EEA, the UK, and the United States.

“Our Crypto-as-a-Service solution enables a wide range of financial institutions to efficiently meet growing customer demand without the complexity and overhead of running their own platform,” said Brett McLain, Head of Payments and Blockchain at Kraken.

NinjaTrader: $1.5 billion to merge TradFi and crypto

In March 2025, Kraken announced the acquisition of NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, the largest deal ever between traditional finance and crypto. Founded in 2003, NinjaTrader is the leading US futures trading platform for retail traders, serving nearly 2 million traders.

This acquisition brings several strategic advantages: access to US futures via NinjaTrader’s FCM (Futures Commission Merchant) license, accelerated international expansion through Kraken’s MiFID licenses in Europe and the UK, and the ability for clients of both platforms to seamlessly trade crypto, futures and traditional financial products.

NinjaTrader continues to operate as an independent platform within the Kraken suite, with progressive integration of trading ecosystems.

Financial results and 2026 outlook

The first quarter of 2025 showed strong results: $472 million in revenue (+19% year-over-year), adjusted EBITDA of $187 million (+17%), trading volume of $208.7 billion (+29%) and 3.9 million funded accounts (+26%).

The euro now represents 17.5% of the global crypto spot volume in fiat, more than double compared to the previous year. Kraken captures about 35% of euro-denominated crypto liquidity, confirming its dominant position in this market.

In November 2025, Kraken raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation, from investors including Citadel Securities, Jane Street, and DRW Venture Capital. The exchange also confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the SEC, with a potential launch in 2026.

To close the year, Kraken organized a Celebration Tour 2025 across Europe, meeting its community directly in Riga, Lisbon, Dublin, Warsaw, and Frankfurt.

2025 Timeline: key milestones

• January 2025: Launch of Kraken Pay (cross-border payments in 300+ cryptos)
• February 2025: Obtaining MiFID license (regulated derivatives in Europe)
• March 2025: Acquisition of NinjaTrader for $1.5B + EMI license
• April 2025: Mastercard partnership + launch of Kraken Embed with bunq
• June 2025: MiCA license obtained from the Central Bank of Ireland
• August 2025: MiCA activation in the 30 EEA countries
• September 2025: xStocks Europe launch + Circle partnership (USDC/EURC)
• November 2025: $800M raise (valuation $20B) + Krak Card launch
• December 2025: Deutsche Börse partnership + confidential IPO filing + Backed Finance acquisition

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile assets with a risk of capital loss. Conduct your own research before making any investment.