“Nine-figure Deal”: Crypto Exchange Kraken Buys the Derivatives Platform Crypto Facilities

On February 4th, the San Francisco-based crypto exchange Kraken officially announced the successful acquisition of Crypto Facilities, London based crypto derivatives trading platform and index provider, as part of an impressive ‘nine-figure deal.’ Kraken disclosed the acquisition in an official press release and declared its potential to become a ‘global leader in cryptocurrency derivative trading.’

Since 2013, Kraken has been a world leader in providing one of the most secure digital assets services and presently has more than 4 million clients in over 190 countries. Kraken offers advanced charting, trading and portfolio tracking tools to deliver the seamless trading experience in 20 digital assets and 70+ currency pairs. Moreover, Kraken’s clients are not only retail traders but professionals, institutions, and authorities that makes Kraken a leading pioneer in the industry.

Surprisingly, it isn’t Kraken’s first acquisition. Previously, Kraken has acquired the multi-exchange charting, trading, and portfolio tracking platform Cryptowatch, several Bitcoin exchange services such as Coinsetter, Cavirtex and CleverCoin, and the wallet funding service Glidera. However, the acquisition of Crypto Facilities is presumably Kraken’s largest acquisition to date and potentially ranks as one of the largest acquisitions that the industry has seen.

Jesse Powell, Kraken’s CEO, released the following statement:

“I’m thrilled to welcome the Crypto Facilities team into the Kraken family, we are excited to introduce eligible clients to these industry leading futures and index products. Over the coming months, our teams will continue to enhance and expand these offerings. We’ve got great stuff in store for traders and institutional clients in 2019.”

Crypto Facilities is a London-based fully regulated and certified crypto firm that provides retailers and institutions secure, transparent and around the clock trading on a range of cryptocurrency derivatives, with a leverage of up to 50x. Crypto Facilities also claims to be the first regulated company to list futures of the most popular cryptocurrencies that includes Bitcoin(BTC)trade, Ethereum (ETH)trade, Litecoin (LTC)trade, Ripple’s XRP (XRP), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

The firm is known for providing various indices including the Bitcoin Reference Rate that powers the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group’s Bitcoin futures. Crypto Facilities is regulated by one of the world’s most forward-looking and innovation-focused regulators - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the U.K. equivalent of the SEC.

Timo Schlaefer, Crypto Facilities CEO and founder, said:

“It has been our mission to build the most sophisticated, powerful and user-friendly cryptocurrency trading platform. Teaming up with Kraken allows us to innovate the next generation of products and tremendously boosts the value we are able to provide to our clients.”

Post-acquisition, Crypto Facilities will remain London-based and help Kraken to meet their commitment to providing innovative products and services.