US bitcoin and crypto exchange Kraken has raised over $6.5 million in a matter of days as part of a new equity sale, data has revealed.
Kraken Fundraiser Hits $6.55M
According to a fundraising page on BnkToTheFuture, which Kraken is using to gather the funds, investors have already contributed €5.87 million ($6.55 million) of the total €9.13 million ($10.2 million) target.
In doing so, Kraken has thus passed its minimum threshold of €5,552,073 as of May 21.
“We are always looking for ways to democratize access to our equity, allowing more of our valued clients to become valued investors,” officials commented on social media.
“To that end, we partnered with (BnkToTheFuture) to create an opportunity to invest in Kraken[.]”
CEO Jesse Powell, who was responsible for the BnkToTheFuture pitch, described Kraken as one of the top 5 exchange platforms worldwide for “legitimate” volume, with a client base of around 4 million.
Its trade volume in 2018 – a bearish year for cryptocurrency overall – totalled $85 billion, while Kraken is “consistently ranked” as the most secure exchange, he added.
A Bitcoin Exchange Renaissance
The move comes as various major exchanges have begun performing fundraising activities of their own, albeit in varying formats.
As Bitcoinist reported, Bitfinex, which lost control of funds worth $850 million last year, since opted to conduct a so-called ‘initial exchange offering’ (‘IEO’), during which it sold its new LEO tokens to private investors.
Despite criticism about its operations and an associated legal case, Bitfinex was also easily able to hit its target, hitting $1 billion in investments in a matter of days.
Elsewhere, corporate moves are also netting significant capital for the exchange sector. Last month, a Japanese blockchain fund invested $200 million in the operator of South Korean exchange Bithumb.
Meanwhile, Bitstamp and fellow South Korean platform Korbit could soon come under the direct ownership of Disney Corp. should a separate equity deal involving a giant $13.2 billion sum go ahead.
The enthusiasm is unsurprising amid the turning tide on cryptocurrency markets in 2019. While 2018 even produced losses for some exchanges – such as that operated by Japan’s GMO Internet – record on-chain volume in May provides ample opportunity for industry players to expand their profile.
In February, when Bitcoin price [coin_price] still lingered around $3500, statistics nonetheless revealed that the deposits on the five biggest exchanges combined still equalled less than 1 percent of those in JPMorgan Chase.
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