Kraken: the crypto exchange, its MiCA license and Deutsche Börse
Kraken is a crypto exchange founded in San Francisco in 2011 by Jesse Powell. In the EU it works through Payward Europe Solutions Limited, which holds a MiCA license from the Central Bank of Ireland. Since December 2025 Kraken has a partnership with Deutsche Börse Group, which bought a stake in the company.
Kraken and MiCA
The Central Bank of Ireland granted Kraken its MiCA license in June 2025, as the company announced. The license covers the European Economic Area. Before it, Kraken was registered as a virtual asset service provider in Ireland, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, and the group also holds MiFID and e-money licenses.
Kraken and Deutsche Börse
In December 2025 Kraken and Deutsche Börse Group announced a strategic partnership for trading, custody, settlement and collateral. Kraken connects to 360T for foreign exchange, Clearstream works on bringing securities it holds to Kraken clients in tokenized form, and Deutsche Börse clients can trade crypto through Crypto Finance and Kraken. Deutsche Börse bought a stake of about 1.5 percent for 200 million dollars, as Bitcoin Magazine reported.
Kraken for institutions
For professional clients Kraken has Kraken Institutional, Kraken Prime for trading and financing in one account, an OTC desk for large orders, and qualified custody. Kraken Pro is the trading interface for active private traders. In the EU Kraken also sells tokenized stocks under the name xStocks.
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Investment & Digital Assets
Risk & Compliance
Is Kraken regulated in Germany?
Yes. Kraken serves customers in Germany under the MiCA license of Payward Europe Solutions Limited from the Central Bank of Ireland, which is valid across the EU. A separate BaFin license is not needed for that.
Who founded Kraken?
Jesse Powell founded Kraken in San Francisco in 2011.
What is Kraken Pro?
Kraken Pro is Kraken's trading interface for active traders, with order books, charts and advanced order types. Kraken Prime and Kraken Institutional are for funds, banks and companies.
Kraken and Finance Loop
Kraken's partnership with Deutsche Börse ties a global crypto exchange to the Frankfurt market infrastructure that Finance Loop covers at its events on tokenization and custody. These topics belong to the track Investment & Digital Assets.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the adoption of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.