Kraken NFT Marketplace Halted After 2 Years As Exchange Focuses On New Products

Key Points:

• The Kraken NFT marketplace will be discontinued to focus on new products and services.
• The company is also undergoing significant changes, including plans to launch a blockchain called Ink for DeFi in 2025.

According to Bloomberg, Kraken, among the earliest cryptocurrency exchanges to be established, announced Tuesday that it would end the Kraken NFT marketplace nearly two years after its launch.

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Kraken NFT Marketplace Disabled to Focus on New Innovations

The company explained that this would enable it to dedicate additional resources to developing new products and services.

"Clients have been informed of the changes and our team will support them as they move their NFTs to their Kraken Wallet or a self-custodial wallet of choice," a Kraken spokesperson confirmed.

The move comes at a time of intense restructuring for the San Francisco Bay Area-based company. In the last month alone, Kraken hired a new CFO and co-CEO while laying off around 15% of its staff.

The exchange also announced the unveiling of a blockchain platform named Ink in early 2025. Ink is intended for decentralized applications and will allow direct peer-to-peer trading, borrowing, and lending of tokens using similar technology underlying Coinbase's Base.

Regulatory Pressures Add Complexity to Kraken's Strategy

The decision also comes amidst increased regulatory scrutiny in the crypto and NFT domains. In August, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gave OpenSea a Wells notice to indicate possible enforcement action against collectable tokens.

Kraken has also faced legal challenges from the SEC, including disputes over whether certain crypto tokens on its platform qualify as securities under U.S. law. However, it is not clear whether these legal pressures influenced the exchange's decision to shut down its NFT marketplace.

The Kraken NFT marketplace launched in December 2022 with the premise of catering to more than digital art collections with custody services and even NFT-backed loans. In any case, although the marketplace is winding up operations, the company still seeks further avenues for growth, such as an IPO. At the beginning of the year, Kraken weighed an ultimate funding round before its public market entrance.