Kraken’s new “Krak” system will compete against other money-transmitting apps such as Cash App and Venmo.
Crypto exchange Kraken has debuted a peer-to-peer (P2P) payments app that allows users to send fiat and cryptocurrency, regardless of country borders. The move is part of the exchange’s effort to expand its financial services offerings beyond cryptocurrencies.
According to Kraken on Thursday, the “Krak” app will offer users a spend and earnings account, promising yield generation on more than 20 digital assets along with cross-border transactions, a market forecast to surpass $8 billion in the United States this year.
“[…] the financial system has been stuck in the past, and we think it’s time to do something about it,” Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a statement. “We believe that basic financial services should be universally accessible, and that money should move as easily as information does.”
Kraken’s app will compete against other money-transmitting solutions such as Cash App and Venmo, both popular financial apps in the US market.
Cash App had 57 million monthly active users in the first quarter of 2025, generating $3.9 billion in revenue. Venmo’s user base amounted to 68.3 million in 2024, according to its parent company PayPal. Both apps have limited support for cryptocurrency transactions.
Related: PayPal, Venmo to roll out Solana, Chainlink transfers
Kraken pivot, eyes IPO
The Krak app is the exchange’s latest attempt to go beyond crypto services and appeal to a broader range of users. In May, Kraken partnered with Banked to launch tokenized stocks on the exchange for non-US clients.
The move is part of a broader shift at Kraken following the arrival of co-CEO Arjun Sethi, positioning the exchange to compete more directly with crypto-stock trading platforms like Robinhood and eToro. In May, Robinhood disclosed plans to develop a blockchain for European users to trade tokenized US stocks.
The launch of Kraken’s payments app comes ahead of a possible initial public offering in 2026. The company has been talking about an IPO for years, but Sethi recently said that it would depend on regulatory clarity for digital assets before a stock market debut. In January 2025, the company revealed that its revenue had jumped to $1.5 billion in 2024 as the crypto market soared and interest in digital assets increased.
Kraken’s payments app also comes ahead of a potential public offering in 2026. While the company has floated the idea of going public for years, Sethi recently said a listing would hinge on greater regulatory clarity around digital assets. The company reported a revenue $1.5 billion revenue in 2024, driven by renewed investor interest in digital assets.
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