Kraken IPO: What You Need to Know

Kraken IPO What You Need to Know, June 2021

Back in 2017,  Bitcoin and cryptocurrency went through a massive movement that pushed the market forward but unfortunately ran out of steam. One of the issues was that it did not get a large enough acceptance base and the perceived value of the coin began to drop along with the value itself plummeting to as long as 3K USD.

This time around crypto has made another massive push forward, learning from the past and pressing onward and upwards.

With the current market cap of crypto totaling more than 2.2 trillion USD, Bitcoin and other coins have again risen in value and are pushing for greater use and acceptance.

This time around with the IPO of Coinbase generating massive movements and media attention crypto has a solid foundation to work with. 

With the IPO of Coinbase being so successful, it almost feels like a base camp has been set up for other exchanges to begin trying to ascend to the same pinnacle.

And we hope as many of them try as possible, the wider and greater the acceptance, the more possible it becomes for cryptocurrency to become a reality.

We are looking towards massive crypto pioneers such as Kraken to begin the process of becoming publicly traded and normalize cryptocurrency further. 

What Is Kraken?

Kraken is a Cryptocurrency exchange and Bank founded in 2011 and specializes in cryptocurrency to Fiat money trading.

Kraken was founded when Jesse Powell recognized the importance of Bitcoin and understood that an easily accessible exchange is the most critical part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

If Bitcoin was meant to be a currency for the people, then the people needed to have quick, secure, and easy access to invest in that currency space.

Kraken is a Cryptocurrency exchange and Bank founded in 2011 and specializes in cryptocurrency to Fiat money trading.

Kraken was founded when Jesse Powell recognized the importance of Bitcoin and understood that an easily accessible exchange is the most critical part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

If Bitcoin was meant to be a currency for the people, then the people needed to have quick, secure, and easy access to invest in that currency space.

Since its humble beginnings, Kraken has grown by leaps and bounds with hundreds of employees spanning the globe who are all dedicated to making cryptocurrency available and accessible to the world and enabling people from all walks of life to invest in their independence.

Kraken’s objective is to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrency so that you and the rest of the world can achieve financial freedom and Independence. I don't know how that sounds to you, but I would love to invest in a company that speaks and believes in ideas like that. 

Kraken is the fourth largest and oldest Bitcoin exchange in the world. It is consistently named one of the best places to buy and sell cryptocurrency online and is more well-known outside of the states, having its beginnings in Europe.

Offering an extremely diverse selection of trading pairs, funding services, coupled with extremely competitive fees and amazing customer service.

Cracking is very well regarded in the cryptocurrency community and everyone is eagerly awaiting the public release of their shares. According to Kraken, they plan to release an IPO sometime in 2022.  

While this is still some time away, this gives us ample time to prepare for an incredible investment opportunity, and possibly participate in another historic movement. 

What Is An IPO?

An IPO or an Initial Public Offering is best described as the process by which a private company begins issuing shares to the public. By this process, a private company becomes publicly traded.

As a publicly traded company, the current owners of the company can convert their shares into stock, and then investors can buy those stocks on the exchange funding future endeavours for the company.

This is a great source of funding for any company and an incredible investment opportunity in most cases.

It is important to note that in an IPO the owners are not selling their stock but rather the company is issuing new shares of stock to raise capital. 

Cryptocurrency has widely been debated as being a legitimate form of currency. An initial public offering for a company that deals with trading these cryptocurrencies through their exchange is a fantastic step forward to the general acceptance and use of cryptocurrency in the global economic market.

Having gone through a thorough inspection and approval of the SEC the legitimacy of the cryptocurrency market if become stronger and more powerful with every company.

The first cryptocurrency exchange to go public was Coinbase, paving a path for others to follow. Hopefully, more exchanges such as are hoping to go public in the near future as the market is beginning to accept exchanges which is a total flip from what happened back in 2017. 

Pros And Cons Of A Kraken IPO

Pros

Capital

The most obvious benefit of an IPO is the fundraising potential. Ipos can generate an incredible amount of capital and create a large number of possibilities for the company to expand further.

Credibility And Media

As mentioned previously cryptocurrency has been under the gun for a long time. An IPO can increase the exposure and potential customer base of Kraken further legitimizing crypto and publicly traded exchanges.

Another large exchange becoming publicly traded like Coinbase will create a lot of media coverage and a lot of positive credibility towards crypto and coil cause a spike in the market.  

Potential

With greater media coverage, increased credibility, and exposure to a greater market Kraken will be a very interesting prospect for investing in. The hype around such an IPO could cause the price to soar and a savvy investor can definitely walk away with some profits. 

Planning

With an initial public offering, a company has to make clear what they plan to do with the proceeds of the offering. This means we get a glimpse into details of what the company plans to do for the next few years. This can be big news and cause additional interest as new information and projects come to light. 

Cons

Difficult / Regulation

Unlike private companies, public companies are required to file their financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission every year.

These financial statements must be prepared in accordance with the US States’ generally accepted accounting principles and audited by certified public accounting firms.

The regulations are both burdensome and extremely costly, requiring thousands of hours of work to coordinate and millions of dollars in fees. 

Costly

The fees are very steep for IPOs. The largest of these fees are accrued from underwriters, usually charging a cut of the total proceeds from the IPO, much like an auctioneer would take a house cut. 

Recurring yearly expenses are also required for meeting the many requirements of the overseeing regulatory bodies. 

Loss Of Control

To those that built the company from the ground up, an IPO  could mean the potential loss of control of their company.

Since a publicly-traded company has to do its best to please shareholders, the decisions that need to be made are not always in the same mindset that the founders had when starting the company. This can cause a lot of issues and friction causing instability within the company. 

Final Note

Back in 2017, it was definitely not the right time to try to go public with an exchange. 

Since that time a great deal has happened and a lot of things have changed, including a broader acceptance of cryptocurrency.

Large titans of industry and finance have begun to accept and dabble in bitcoin proving that the potential for bitcoin’s use and success by the largest corporations. 

When the big guys take notice of something it usually means that it’s going to stay around for some time. 

The only possible concern with a Kraken IPO is that the goals of the company could change to reflect the needs of the investor base. Investors always want the most of the company and sometimes for companies to make poor short term decisions that go against the motto of the company.

In this way, a lot of companies lose their integrity and become another giant corporation lost to greed. It is important for companies like Kraken to remain steadfast in their goals especially relating to cryptocurrency and the common people.

There is potential to change the very structure of the world’s economy, we are poised at the very edge of great potential change and it would be awful to see a company with amazing objectives and goals get steered the wrong way by greed.

With the path cleared by Coinbase, proving it’s possible to succeed and go public. The regulatory bodies have been warmed up to the idea of crypto exchanges and Kraken and other large exchanges should be getting ready to make their move while the success of Coinbase’s IPO is still fresh in everyone’s minds.

With many exchanges that have already been pushing to go public, it appears like the market is about to see quite a few new ticker symbols showing up.

Supporters of crypto and investors who are looking to get their hands on some hot stocks are sure to be looking out for Kraken and other exchange IPOs happening in the near future.

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