Japan-based Money Partners Group has led the latest series B round of funding for US-based cryptocurrency exchange operator Kraken, according to an official company press release today, which cited that the terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Money Partners Group is based in Tokyo and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) with a market capitalization of over $260 million, and the series B round into Kraken follows SBI investments - also based in Japan – making a multi-million dollar series B round earlier in February.
As one of the largest FX brokers in Japan, servicing more than 270,000 clients, Money Partners Group will further its business alliance with Kraken by using its services to offer bitcoin trading, bitcoin settlement service, and Blockchain -based derivatives trading to client base.
Apparently, there is growing support from Japanese brokerages into the prospects for digital assets such as Bitcoin and from market leaders such as Kraken.
Commenting on the announcement, Money Partners Group President and Representative Director Taizen Okuyama said: “Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will bring about a future in which digital and digitized assets are commonplace. Money Partners Group is dedicated to staying on the cutting edge of finance, and bringing new, exciting opportunities to our clients. The movements behind Bitcoin and Ethereum have grown too large to ignore. Kraken is an industry veteran with demonstrated leadership, a professional management team, a strong compliance program and world-class technology. They are the ideal partner for diving into this new ecosystem. We’re excited about what advantages this partnership with Kraken will bring to Money Partners Group and our global clients.”
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell added regarding the announcement in the press release: “This investment from Money Partners Group is more validation that our long-game approach to the digital asset exchange business has been the right strategy. Established players in financial services want a partner that knows what they’re doing and delivers -- that’s why they choose Kraken. We are pleased to have such a visionary and experienced partner in our business. Our new relationship with Money Partners Group is a huge win for Bitcoin and Ethereum awareness and adoption around the world. The results we will achieve together will show other financial institutions why they should embrace digital assets and blockchain technologies.”
Kraken said that following its recent acquisitions of Cavirtex and Coinsetter earlier this year, it has already seen a four-fold increase in new client accounts year-to-date, when compared to Q4 2015. In addition, prices of Ethereum (ETH), one of its offered Cryptocurrencies , along with Bitcoin (XBT) continues to gain interest as the prospects for digital assets becomes more ingrained as a future reality.
