Kraken Launches Venture Fund
- Companies in the Kraken Ventures portfolio will receive investments ranging from $250,000 to $3 million.
- The fund will remain independent from the Kraken exchange.
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Kraken Ventures will receive financial backing from the exchange, but will operate as an independent fund.
According to the company’s announcement, the Kraken Ventures team will be led by three senior leaders from Kraken — Brandon Gath, Kirill Gourov, and Akshi Federici.
“We will take a hands-on approach with our portfolio companies to provide guidance, new commercial opportunities, and additional capital support,” said Brandon Gath, the head of corporate development at Kraken.
The fund plans on assisting a wide range of projects. Aside from cryptocurrency companies and protocol, the fund will invest in companies working in fintech, DeFi, AI, machine and deep learning, and cybersecurity.
Companies in Kraken Venture’s portfolio will receive investments that range between $250,000 to $3 million, as well as access to tools and experts provided by the fund.
- Shortly after filing for bankruptcy on Friday, FTX experienced a hack that saw close to $500 million in tokens leaving the exchange.
- The Bahamas Securities Commission and the Financial Crimes Investigation Branch of the police have launched an investigation into the exchange to check if any criminal misconduct took place in FTX.
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- The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is reportedly investigating Kraken for possible violations of U.S. sanctions.
- Unnamed sources have said the investigation began in 2019, and that the government agency was close to imposing a fine on the exchange.
- Binance and Kraken have both said they will not freeze the accounts of “innocent users”, unless there is a “legal requirement” to do so.
- Many crypto-related platforms have started actively working to support Ukraine, and will either make donations or provide emergency relief through crypto crowdfunding.