Kraken’s 2022 year in review

There may be by no means been a uninteresting second in crypto, and this yr was no exception.

In 2022, Kraken celebrated 11 years of our mission to speed up the adoption of cryptocurrency so that you simply and the remainder of the world can obtain monetary freedom and inclusion. It’s been fairly a trip.

Our singular give attention to this mission has allowed us to face the check of time and endure greater than a decade of highs, lows, frenzies, and FUD whereas establishing ourselves as a frontrunner within the crypto trade.  

2022 was stuffed with highlights and challenges. We’re thrilled to look again on the yr that was as we put together to serve and safe our purchasers within the yr forward.

NFT

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) dominated the dialog this yr, with a numerous variety of individuals getting into the crypto ecosystem thanks to those distinctive digital objects. At all times searching for new methods of empowering our purchasers to attach and transact, we introduced the waitlist to develop into a beta tester for the Kraken NFT market earlier this yr and have been thrilled to see the response from our neighborhood.

After saying 70 NFT Collections for Kraken NFT Beta Testers to discover, acquire and commerce, we opened Kraken NFT for a choose group of beta testers from our waitlist in November. A few of the hottest NFT collections, together with Bored Ape Yacht Membership, CryptoPunks, Cool Cats, Doodles, World of Ladies and plenty of extra, can be found on Kraken NFT at the moment. 

After months of testing and refinement, we opened Kraken NFT to all. Now, it’s your likelihood to discover, acquire and commerce with zero gasoline charges* on Kraken NFT — the NFT market constructed from the bottom as much as be safe, simple to make use of and dynamic.

We’re persevering with so as to add new collections to Kraken NFT every week and encourage everybody to observe the Kraken NFT weblog for our newest updates, in addition to our newly launched @KrakenNFT Twitter account, to be the primary to know when new collections can be found.

Kraken Professional

For superior crypto merchants seeking to acquire a aggressive edge, we launched our new and improved Professional buying and selling interface. Constructed with skilled merchants and alpha seekers in thoughts, the brand new Kraken Professional internet buying and selling interface combines spot, margin buying and selling, staking, and portfolio administration all in a seamless, trendy UI. It additionally boasts a extremely customizable and scalable entrance finish, so you’ve gotten full management to regulate, rearrange, resize, stack, nest in tabs and broaden in pop-outs — so you can also make essentially the most environment friendly buying and selling interface that matches your wants.

Lightning Community

Kraken has all the time been recognized for constructing world class merchandise and delivering essentially the most ahead wanting instruments that empower monetary freedom and inclusion. We actually upheld that fame this yr.

Earlier in 2022, we introduced that we now assist on the spot Lightning Community BTC transactions. The Lightning Community permits individuals everywhere in the world to shortly and cost-effectively transact utilizing bitcoin. Kraken Intelligence, our in-house crew of crypto analysts, mentioned how Lightning Community is supporting Bitcoin’s evolution from a retailer of worth to a medium of change of their report, The Lightning Community: Bitcoin’s Evolution to Medium of Change.

In case you are new to the advantages of the Lightning Community and wish to learn how it really works, you possibly can try our Study Middle’s information to What’s the Lightning Community? 

To get began utilizing the Lightning Community, you may also try our Help Middle guides for Connecting to Kraken’s Lightning node and our information on How do I ship bitcoin on the Lightning Community?

Staking

Although Kraken has all the time — and can proceed — to advocate for self custody of crypto property and encourage our purchasers to preserve their crypto protected themselves, 2022 was a giant yr for crypto staking at Kraken. We even added staking to our Professional cell app so you possibly can stake on-the-go and earn rewards in your crypto from anyplace.

Over the previous yr, we’ve enabled our purchasers to stake a number of new cash utilizing Kraken, together with:

1. Mina (MINA)
2. Secret Community (SCRT)
3. Tron (TRX)
4. Terra (LUNA)
5. Polygon Community (MATIC)
6. The Graph (GRT)

With Kraken, you possibly can stake dozens of cryptoassets and earn a number of the most dependable reward charges within the trade by our streamlined staking companies.

ETH Merge

With so many trade defining moments occurring over the previous yr, it’s simple to overlook that one of the vital hotly anticipated occasions within the historical past of crypto happened just some months in the past! 

The Ethereum Merge was an enormous success, because the world’s second largest cryptocurrency accomplished the ultimate section of its transition from a proof-of-work to proof-of-stake blockchain. The occasion happened at block top 15,537,393 on September 15, 2022.

Kraken was one of many first exchanges to re-open buying and selling of ETH after the transition. We have been additionally one of many first exchanges to checklist and distribute the newly created EthereumPoW (ETHW) token that adopted.

Wish to study extra concerning the Ethereum Merge and what it means for the way forward for one of many world’s largest blockchain protocols? You may get began with the Kraken Study Middle’s article What’s The Ethereum Merge?

After that, you possibly can take a good deeper dive into the Ethereum Merge with Kraken Intelligence’s report Ethereum 2.0: Does ETH develop into deflationary post-Merge? or take a extra nuanced look into the assorted execs, cons and tradeoffs of each proof-of-work and proof-of-stake with their report PoW vs. PoS: Securing the Chain.

Token listings

2022 was a robust yr for token listings at Kraken. Merely put, we listed extra tokens than now we have ever listed in a single yr. 

Within the course of, we greater than doubled the quantity of cryptocurrencies you should purchase, commerce, and promote on Kraken in comparison with final yr. 

We now provide greater than 200 cryptocurrencies on Kraken and proceed so as to add essentially the most revolutionary initiatives shaping the crypto trade.

However don’t simply take our phrase for it. Take a look at every of the bulletins marking the launch of greater than 130 tokens we listed over the previous yr:

1. Kintsugi (KINT) Buying and selling Begins January 6 – Deposit Now
2. Moonbeam (GLMR) Buying and selling Begins January 11 – Deposit Now
3. Astar (ASTR) Buying and selling Begins January 18 – Deposit Now
4. Acala (ACA) Buying and selling Begins January 25 – Deposit Now
5. Mango (MNGO), Kin (KIN), Orca (ORCA), Star Atlas (ATLAS & POLIS), Bonfida (FIDA), Step Finance (STEP), Saber (SBR) Buying and selling Begin January 27 – Deposit Now
6. Akash Community (AKT) Buying and selling Begins February 1 – Deposit Now
7. Altair (AIR) Buying and selling Begins February 8 – Deposit Now
8. TerraUSD (UST) Buying and selling Begins February 17 – Deposit Now
9. Kraken Helps the Songbird (SGB) Airdrop for XRP Holders
10. Buying and selling for ALICE, AUDIO, BICO, ENS, GALA, IMX, KP3R, MC, WOO, YGG Begins February 25 – Deposit Now!
11. pSTAKE (PSTAKE) Buying and selling Begins February 24 – Deposit Now
12. Web Laptop (ICP) Buying and selling Begins March 18 – Deposit Now
13. ApeCoin (APE) Buying and selling Begins Now!
14. Buying and selling for CVX, FXS, MULTI, POWR, PLA, QNT, RBC, RARE, TOKE Begins March 29 – Deposit Now!
15. Robonomics (XRT) Buying and selling Begins March 24 – Deposit Now
16. Deposits and Staking for SCRT Out there Now – Earn As much as 20% in Yearly Rewards
17. Buying and selling for ALCX, BOND, JASMY, MASK, RNDR, SPELL, TRIBE, UMA Begins April 1 – Deposit Now!
18. Buying and selling for AKT, BADGER, BAND, CTSI and Extra Begins Now For USA and CA!
19. Buying and selling for GARI, GMT, GST, mSOL and SAMO Begins April 29 – Deposit Now!
20. Centrifuge (CFG) Buying and selling Begins April 29 – Deposit Now
21. Nym (NYM) Is Out there on Kraken – Deposit Now
22. Buying and selling for AGLD, API3, LDO and Extra Begins Might 5 – Deposit Now!
23. Buying and selling for FET and RUNE Begins Might 6 – Deposit Now!
24. Buying and selling for CVC, RAD and SUPER Begins Might 19 – Deposit Now!
25. Buying and selling for ACH, IDEX and REQ Begins Might 31 – Deposit Now!
26. Terra 2.0 (LUNA2) Deposits and Withdrawals Begin Now
27. Fantom (FTM) Buying and selling Begins June 2 – Deposit Now
28. Buying and selling for ADX, BIT, CHR and Extra Begins June 9 – Deposit Now!
29. Buying and selling for EGLD, FARM, FORTH and Extra Begins June 16 – Deposit Now!
30. Integritee (TEER) Buying and selling Begins June 16 – Deposit Now
31. Buying and selling for BTT, DENT, KEY and UNFI Begins July 1 – Deposit Now!
32. Interlay (INTR) Buying and selling Begins June 30 – Deposit Now
33. Buying and selling for ARPA Begins July 28 – Deposit Now!
34. Crust Shadow (CSM) Buying and selling Begins July 27 – Deposit Now
35. Buying and selling for JUNO Begins Now!
36. Basilisk (BSX) begins buying and selling on Kraken at the moment – deposit now
37. Buying and selling for ALPHA, BLZ, BOBA and Extra Begins August 26 – Deposit Now!
38. Buying and selling for PARA Begins September 7 – Deposit Now!
39. EthereumPoW (ETHW) buying and selling begins now + token distribution
40. Buying and selling for C98, GAL, RPL, STG and SYN begins September 29 – Deposit Now!
41. Buying and selling for Aptos (APT) begins now!
42. Buying and selling for Stacks (STX) begins October 21 – deposit now!
43. Buying and selling for Hashflow (HFT) is dwell
44. Buying and selling for EUL and WAXL begins December 15 – deposit now!

Bear markets are for constructing

Undeterred by the headwinds, we saved constructing it doesn’t matter what the market threw at us. Our over-the-counter (OTC) desk introduced a brand new AutoRFQ and OTC portal for fast block buying and selling, permitting purchasers to independently request and settle for automated block commerce quotes by way of the Kraken OTC desk.

At all times seeking to assist our institutional purchasers, we made it simpler than ever to get began due to a number of new pages tailor-made to funding funds, company treasuries, crypto miners, buying and selling companies and wealth managers we serve. 

We additionally added native assist for a number of blockchain protocols. We have been thrilled to assist deposits and withdrawals of USDC by way of the Solana and Tron networks, in addition to MATIC deposits and withdrawals on the Polygon Community.

Bear markets aren’t only for constructing, they’re additionally for accumulating. That’s the reason we added recurring purchase performance, so you possibly can persistently construct your crypto portfolio routinely. Often known as greenback price averaging, recurring buys refers to a easy, beginner-friendly funding technique whereby an individual makes small, recurrently scheduled investments in a selected asset over a time period, as an alternative of investing your entire sum without delay.

No mission however The Mission

Kraken has constructed a fame for not simply main the crypto trade, however supporting others making an impression throughout the trade as properly. 

This yr, we continued our dedication to sustaining the Bitcoin Rust repository by funding developer Tobin Harding (tcharding),who will now be totally devoted to coordinating Bitcoin Rust code evaluation, encouraging and sponsoring new contributors, facilitating very important contributor conferences, and enhancing the infrastructure powering the worldwide Bitcoin community. The information adopted Kraken’s September 2021 announcement of a Bitcoin Rust growth fund, began in reminiscence of our late colleague and early Bitcoin Rust contributor Tamás Blummer.

Extra lately this yr, we additionally donated $100,000 to Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative, a U.S.-based nonprofit that harnesses intelligence to assist monetary establishments, expertise companies and cryptocurrency exchanges fight human trafficking and youngster exploitation. 

Sadly, one in all our largest highlights of the previous yr got here within the wake of one of the vital unthinkable tragedies, the invasion of Ukraine. Our response? Kraken Distributed Over $10 Million in Help to Shoppers Impacted by Ukraine Disaster.

Kraken purchasers who created an account from Ukraine previous to March 9, 2022 have been eligible to obtain $1,000 in bitcoin that might be instantly withdrawn from our change. The response was overwhelming, as we acquired an outpouring of assist from these affected:

“We have now a child and we left our residence in Kharkov and misplaced our job[s]. It is a vital assist for us in such a troublesome time. I can purchase meals for us and every part we’d like. At such moments, we perceive that the world is stuffed with form individuals and assist us.”

“You helped me quite a bit, I purchased a bulletproof vest at your expense.”

As we proceed our mission to ship monetary freedom and inclusion worldwide, these two testimonies, amongst a whole bunch of messages in response to our assist, have been undoubtedly a number of the brightest moments of the yr.

Our purchasers in Ukraine weren’t the one ones to acknowledge the trade defining requirements Kraken continues to set. We celebrated excellence in cybersecurity with a brand new accreditation as we earned our ISO 27001 certification, a world cybersecurity customary that demonstrates our continued dedication to our purchasers’ data safety on our platform.

Moreover, the European Buyer Centricity Awards acknowledged Kraken’s because the winner within the Buyer Success class. We have been thrilled to see our Account Administration win out in opposition to 176 rivals with our trade main NPS rating of 83 and a CSAT rating of 99.999% from their institutional and VIP purchasers, Within the course of, we as soon as once more proved our themselves greatest at school — not simply throughout all crypto exchanges, however all and monetary service firms.

As we continued to assemble our govt crew of world class professionals this yr, from Chief Monetary Officer Carrie Dolan to Chief Advertising and marketing Officer Mayur Gupta, we additionally took a second to strengthen our crypto-first tradition.

Kraken Tradition Defined laid out “The Tentaclemandments of Kraken,” bolstered The Mission and defined what it really means to embody the values of a Krakenite. The response was overwhelming and hundreds flocked to our careers web page for the chance to affix us on this mission.

As our co-founder and CEO Jesse Powell prepares to step as much as the Chairman function and cross the helm to COO Dave Ripley, we’re grateful for Jesse’s management, in addition to his dedication to crypto values and Kraken’s mission during the last 11 years — and we’re thrilled to have Dave as our new CEO as we embark on our second decade of development and world adoption. 

It’s been an extended yr. The cryptocurrency trade adjustments daily however this yr it felt like a curler coaster. The perfect factor? That change brings us nearer to a future the place crypto is ubiquitous and monetary equality is paramount. And we thanks for becoming a member of us for the trip.

These supplies are for normal data functions solely and will not be funding recommendation or a advice or solicitation to purchase, promote or maintain any digital asset or to have interaction in any particular buying and selling technique. Some crypto merchandise and markets are unregulated, and also you might not be protected by authorities compensation and/or regulatory safety schemes. The unpredictable nature of the cryptoasset markets can result in lack of funds. Tax could also be payable on any return and/or on any improve within the worth of your cryptoassets and you must search impartial recommendation in your taxation place.