Kraken Acquires Startup Firm Staked To Develop New Staking Products

Leading US-based crypto exchange Kraken has acquired Staked, a non-custodial staking startup “to develop new staking products”, the company announced.

The details acquisition deal were not disclosed in the announcement.

Jesse Powell, CEO and co-founder of Kraken commented:

“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.”

Kraken’s acquisition will allow customers to stake crypto while maintaining direct control over their funds. By contrast, its existing service held custody over users’ staked funds.

Kraken introduced Tezos staking in December 2019. It has since added support for other assets, including Algorand (ALGO), Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and several others.

Staked, which was founded in 2018, was one of the earliest companies to focus on staking-as-a-service, long before major exchanges began to offer similar services circa 2019.

The deal is its fifth acquisition of the year and follows earlier acquisitions of Crypto Facilities and Bit Trade.

The development comes as Kraken mulls a public offering, a route that Powell has publicly floated in the past as a potential over the next two years.