Kraken Launches Non-Custodial Bitcoin Yield Product with 2.5% Yearly Yield

Kraken, a crypto exchange, has launched a non-custodial Bitcoin product offering a 2.5% yearly yield, developed with crypto yield infrastructure provider Veda. The product aims to simplify earning yield on Bitcoin by swapping it for Kraken Wrapped Bitcoin (kBTC), which is then allocated across lending platforms like Aave, Morpho, and Tydro. Withdrawals take approximately five days and incur a 25% performance fee on rewards.

Within 10 hours of launch, the product attracted over $30 million in deposits from 4,000 unique wallets. This launch follows Kraken's January introduction of three stablecoin yield products, which have garnered around $245 million in deposits and generated over $2.2 million in yield. Kraken Earn Product Director John Zettler noted that many Bitcoin holders on the platform expressed interest in simple yield generation methods. The launch highlights growing demand for Bitcoin yield products despite the Bitcoin blockchain's lack of native yield mechanisms compared to Ethereum and Solana. Relatedly, Coinbase and Apex Group recently tokenized a Bitcoin Yield Fund on Base.