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The top-10 crypto exchange says it plans to add lending and credit card programs to the app in the future. <\/p>\n
Leading United States-based crypto exchange Kraken has launched Krak, a new payments app aiming to compete in a space where PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App are all stepping up their push to dominate. <\/p>\n
The new app \u2014 available for iOS and Android \u2014 allows users to move money across borders using crypto, including stablecoins<\/a>, as well as fiat.<\/p>\n A Thursday blog announcement<\/a> by Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi states that the new app supports payments in over 160 countries, allows users to transact across more than 300 crypto assets, and offers rewards on holdings.<\/p>\n According to the post, users holding Global Dollar (USDG<\/a>) \u2014 a stablecoin backed<\/a> by Kraken, Paxos and Robinhood with a current market cap of $322 million \u2014 can earn up to 4.1% APR, while users can earn up to 10% for staking other cryptocurrencies in the app.<\/p>\n The app uses \u201cKraktags,\u201d payment aliases for users \u2014 similar to Cash App\u2019s $cashtags \u2014 which let users send funds via the app using simple handles, instead of identifying information, like a legal name or email.<\/p>\n In late December 2024, Cash App quietly removed<\/a> Bitcoin transfers between $cashtags, following months of scrutiny<\/a> from federal authorities over the platform\u2019s anti-money laundering controls.<\/p>\n Kraken is currently the sixth-largest<\/a> centralized cryptocurrency exchange globally by 24-hour trading volume, with over $866 million traded over the past day.<\/p>\n Sethi said in the blog post that the goal of launching the app is to fix a \u201csystem that broke and stayed broken,\u201d referring to international payments on traditional banking rails.<\/p>\n Kraken co-CEO said that the new app addressed what it still sees as the problem of sending money globally, representing a \u201cfull-stack rethink of how money should work.\u201d In addition to payments via Krak, the centralized exchange giant is also planning to roll out physical and virtual cards in a collaboration<\/a> with Mastercard, as well as collateralized lending services, as part of the app\u2019s expanded features.<\/p>\n Users will be able to borrow against their crypto holdings in Krak without credit checks or paperwork, though the timeframe for this feature remains unclear.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Kraken clarified in comments to The Defiant that Mastercard will be working with the exchange by \u201claunching Krak debit cards to clients in certain regions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight now we’re laser-focused on growing adoption and usage of Krak, but over time we’ll be looking to add pay-in-advance services, such as lending, loans and credit card programs,\u201d the spokesperson added.<\/p>\n Kraken is entering a crowded space, where platforms like PayPal and Cash App have already been active for some time. PayPal has expanded its crypto focus<\/a> in recent years, adding support for multiple cryptocurrencies<\/a> in the app and launching its own stableclin, PYUSD, the market cap of which recently surpassed the $1 billion mark<\/a>.<\/p>\nGrowing Competition<\/h2>\n