Kraken, the largest and most popular foreign exchange platform in the world, has announced the addition of a new banking option to its users. The bank account feature is available to US users, specifically those located in the U.S. This makes Kraken one of the first financial institutions to provide its customers with an offshore banking option.
For those not in the know, Kraken is one of the leading foreign exchange trading platforms on the web, with over 1.5 million users from all over the world. It offers all kinds of trading options, including forex, forex options, commodities, stocks, and futures trading. One of the most popular offerings is the Forex option, which lets traders buy or sell a specific currency in exchange for another, without actually holding the actual money.
As the name suggests, this type of option is often referred to as a put option. What makes it different from other options is that it allows the trader to buy the currency before it falls in value, which allows him to lock in a certain amount of profit. Kraken provides a different option that offers more flexibility, as it gives the trader the freedom to sell the option at any time.
In fact, this is the main reason why Kraken decided to introduce this new banking option. Until now, the platform’s US users could only transact in dollars. As an American company, this was simply not possible; in fact, not many banks and financial institutions allowed their clients to open bank accounts in the US. Now, however, this is no longer the case, and the platform has added a bank account option for US users.
This is indeed very interesting for those who used to use the Forex option but are now being forced to use USD instead. But then again, one may argue that since these users traded in currencies other than USD, it was inevitable that they would be able to transact in their own country’s currency. And for those who wanted to conduct business in another country, especially if they wanted to do so while keeping their privacy, this option would be very beneficial.
The new option for US users will be launched in the next few days, and Kraken CEO Jesse Powell revealed that the bank account option would also be made available to Canadian and Australian users in the near future. However, he did not specify when this would happen. He has yet to receive confirmation that his communication lines with his customers were properly established.
However, the real question here is whether Kraken can maintain the existing volumes of transactions if it fails to secure a foothold in the domestic market. Since Kraken serves a vast amount of customers, it would not be very difficult for the company to gain a foothold in the US and get in touch with their customers. But then again, this is just one of the challenges that the company has to face as it grows in popularity.
If you are a Kraken user, then you may want to check out this new feature and see if it would be a useful feature for you. However, don’t expect this new banking option to make a huge impact on your accounts. It might just be good for some people, but for most, this feature is a nice addition to the already substantial feature set offered by Kraken.
