Now a bank step from the crypto exchange Kraken: They will buy

Kraken, which aims to be the "application of everything" in the coming years, like many crypto exchanges, has started to take its steps even more firmly. According to the Financial Times report; Payward, the umbrella company of the stock exchange, reached an agreement to acquire Saldo Bank, which is based in Lithuania and is regulated by the EU.

Kraken is expected to provide both banking services and issue payment cards through this bank. If this acquisition goes through, it will be the first time an American crypto company has acquired a European bank.

“We want to provide services like a bank”

Arjun Sethi, one of the CEOs of Payward, told FT on the subject: "Our customers have been saying that they want to receive bank-like service from Kraken lately. We want to provide this."

Stating that tokenized assets, crypto, cash and other traditional assets are now included in the same basket, Sethi also said, "Customers will be able to get loans on all these assets. It will be much easier than the current system."

It was not disclosed how much of an agreement was made for Saldo Bank, which received its first banking license within the European Union in 2021.

Banks filed a lawsuit

As you may remember, Coinbase and Ripple also received banking licenses in the USA, albeit temporarily. The banking industry filed a lawsuit against the OCC, which issued the license, this month. In its statement on the subject, the “American Association of Independent Community Bankers” stated that crypto companies easily obtain such licenses, but are not subject to expensive and difficult regulations like banks.

The banking sector played a major role in the failure to pass the Clarity Act in the USA.