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Definition: Kraken


A cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011 and the first within the U.S. (based in San Francisco). Kraken expanded by acquisition. In 2016, it acquired the Coinsetter (U.S.), Cavirtex (Canada) and CleverCoin (Holland) exchanges as well as Glidera, a Chicago-based wallet service. Kraken helped to recover some of the hacked bitcoins from the Mt. Gox incident that occurred the same year Kraken was founded. By 2015, it recovered some 200,000 bitcoins. A first within the U.S., in 2020, Kraken received a special purpose depository institution (SPDI) charter from Wyoming, a state that became very crypto-friendly in 2019. See crypto exchange.