Kraken exchange rolls out self-custody crypto wallet following other CEXs

Crypto exchange Kraken has rolled out its self-custody wallet for digital assets, following the likes of Binance, OKX, Coinbase, Bitget, and Bybit.

"Whether you’re a Kraken client or not, you can use multichain Kraken Wallet as your bridge to the decentralized financial system," exchange staff wrote. Currently, Kraken Wallet supports assets on eight blockchains, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon and Dogecoin (DOGE). 

Wallet developers claim that the app "collects the absolute minimum amount of data required to function as a wallet," and "not even internal app performance analytics are collected." The company also stated:

"User activity is proxied through Kraken’s own infrastructure, shielding your IP address and preventing your identity and location information from potential external exposure."

For security, the wallet features mobile biometrics and user password protection,while its code has been audited by Trail of Bits. The app's code is also open-source and available on GitHub.

Function-wise, Kraken Wallet supports decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), interaction with decentralized applications (dApps) through Wallet Connect, and "24/7/365" customer support.

"Kraken Wallet is how we invest in the your keys, your crypto ecosystem which is vital for the existence of permissionless financial access," said Eric Kuhn, product director for Kraken Wallet, in a statement.

Exchanges have increasingly turned to the self-custody wallet sector amid a worldwide regulatory tightening on their activities.

On April 11, Kraken announced that it is winding down support for the Monero privacy token for its customers based in Ireland and Belgium. Last October, the exchange suspended support for several stablecoins, such as Tether (USDT) and DAI, for its Canadian users. 

In many jurisdictions, self-custody wallets are not subjected to the same rules that apply to money transmitters, such as exchanges, as they do not natively process fiat money transactions.

On March 19, the European Parliament scrapped a 1,000 euro ($1,080) limit on cryptocurrency payments from self-hosted crypto wallets as part of new Anti-Money Laundering laws.

Similarly, on March 28, U.S. District Judge Katherine Failla ruled that Coinbase Wallet was "not a broker" and, therefore, not subject to brokerage rules set forth by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

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