RIT Capital Partners, a London-based investment trust, announced that the company has acquired a stake in cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. Foun
ded in 1961, RIT Capital is a leading investment trust with a market capitalization of more than $5 billion.
According to the official announcement, RIT Capital invested in Kraken last month. The British firm described Kraken as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide with more than 6 million clients.
Kraken has seen a surge in cryptocurrency trading volumes in the last few months. According to some media reports, the digital exchange is planning to go public in 2022 through a direct listing. RIT Capital mentioned that the potential valuation of the cryptocurrency exchange could be around $20 billion.
“Kraken is currently in talks with investors about another round of fundraising that could give it a valuation of $20bn. According to reports, talks have been held with is in discussions with firms, including Fidelity, Tribe Capital and General Atlantic. Kraken CEO Jesse Powell said this is being delayed in order to evaluate how Coinbase’s IPO performs. Kraken has a strong balance sheet, and the company is not in a rush to raise capital,” the official announcement states.
Kraken is not the only cryptocurrency exchange that is planning to go public for global expansion. Several other digital exchanges are considering direct listing in the coming years. The public listing of cryptocurrency exchanges has officially been started by Coinbase. The US-based digital exchange went public last week and received a reference price of $250 for COIN shares. The shares of the digital exchange touched an all-time high of approximately $420 on its debut but saw a correction later. COIN stock closed at $311 yesterday.
Finance Magnates earlier reported about the selling of shares by the executives of Coinbase. Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, sold 749,999 COIN shares worth nearly $292 million last week. Coinbase saw nearly $335 billion in trading volumes during the first three months of 2021.
(Photo: Kraken)
