Kraken: Redefining Trust and Access in Global Finance
- Serving more than 15 million clients worldwide
- The acquisition of Staked, one of Rising Tide’s portfolio companies, was a particularly strategic move
By Brent MacDonald – Partner at Rising Tide
In the span of just over a decade, Kraken has evolved from one of the earliest digital asset exchanges into a cornerstone of the global crypto economy. Today, it serves more than 15 million clients worldwide, a scale that places it among the largest and most trusted crypto platforms in operation. For investors, Kraken represents not just participation in the growth of digital assets but a broader exposure to the transformation of financial infrastructure itself. As traditional systems strain under the weight of regulatory, geopolitical, and technological change, Kraken’s continued expansion signals the arrival of a more open, secure, and inclusive financial paradigm.
Kraken’s financial and operational performance in recent quarters underscores both its resilience and its ambition. The Company has maintained positive EBITDA through volatile market cycles while continuing to grow its global customer base and deepen engagement with institutional and retail clients alike. Beyond its exchange business, Kraken has diversified its offerings to include staking, custody, futures, and tokenized assets—each contributing to a more stable and comprehensive revenue model. The acquisition of Staked, one of Rising Tide’s portfolio companies, was a particularly strategic move. Staked’s infrastructure allows investors to earn yield on proof-of-stake assets without taking on custodial risk, and Kraken’s integration of this capability has strengthened its position as a full-spectrum provider of crypto financial services. This acquisition also exemplifies Kraken’s ability to identify and absorb key infrastructure players that enhance both its technological and market advantages.
Kraken’s leadership has long emphasized a “security-first” culture, a philosophy that has earned it a reputation for reliability in an industry often marked by breaches and instability. The firm’s approach to custody—emphasizing cold storage, independent audits, and SOC 2 Type I compliance—reflects a maturity uncommon in the crypto space. Its expansion into regulated markets has been deliberate and forward-thinking, securing licenses in major jurisdictions including the U.K., Canada, and the European Union under the MiCA framework. This global regulatory posture positions Kraken not merely as a participant but as a shaper of how crypto assets will coexist with traditional finance.
From an investment perspective, Kraken’s evolution is instructive. Rather than focusing narrowly on exchange volume, the Company has systematically built a vertically integrated ecosystem designed to outlast market cycles. The Staked acquisition, coupled with Kraken’s growing derivatives platform, global custody network, and institutional offerings, allows it to compete not just with crypto-native peers like Coinbase and Binance but with legacy financial institutions increasingly exploring tokenized assets and blockchain infrastructure. This diversification mitigates dependency on trading fees and provides greater revenue stability in periods of market contraction.
Why We Are Excited:
For long-term investors, the thesis around Kraken rests on three pillars: trust, infrastructure, and scalability. The firm’s track record of operational security and regulatory prudence underpins its trust premium; its multi-product, multi-market strategy gives it infrastructure depth; and its global reach positions it to scale into emerging asset categories such as tokenized securities and decentralized financial products. As financial systems worldwide undergo structural change, Kraken’s combination of credibility, innovation, and adaptability makes it one of the most strategically significant companies shaping the next phase of global finance.
At Rising Tide, we are proud to count Kraken among our portfolio of transformative companies. Its acquisition of Staked, its pioneering work in establishing crypto as a legitimate asset class, and its continued commitment to transparency and regulatory integrity exemplify the type of leadership we believe will define the future of finance. The world’s financial system may have blinked, but Kraken is helping to build what comes next—an open, resilient, and inclusive network for value exchange that transcends borders and redefines trust itself.
Disclaimer: Rising Tide Fund Managers, LLC and its affiliates (“Rising Tide” or “We”) is a United States venture capital firm investing primarily in the information technology and healthcare/life sciences markets. Over the last 35 years, we have partnered with family funds, high-impact investors, and strategic partners to help launch and expand startups in a variety of industries across three continents. We are dedicated to cooperating with our entrepreneurs at all stages: from financing to leveraging our international networks to facilitating exits by design. The portfolio companies described herein do not represent all the portfolio companies purchased, sold, or recommended for portfolios advised by Rising Tide. The reader should not assume that an investment in the portfolio companies identified were or will be profitable. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors should be aware that a loss of investment is possible. For more information, visit www.rtf.vc