Kraken to compete with Venmo and PayPal with new cross-border payments app Krak

Crypto exchange Kraken launched Krak, a new global fiat and crypto payments app aiming to compete with payment app giants like Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App.

Krak offers users free local payments as well as zero-cost international transactions to more than 160 countries. Users can also earn up to 4.1% rewards for holding Global Dollar ($USDG), a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Paxos, and up to 10% in staking rewards for other digital assets, according to a company release.

The move comes amid a period of growth for Kraken, which is betting on a multi-asset strategy beyond crypto as it looks to go public. Earlier this year the exchange announced it would launch tokenized stock trading for non-U.S. customers and acquired U.S. retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion.

Kraken's new app also plans to integrate features like a crypto credit line, where users can borrow against their digital asset holdings, as well as physical and virtual Krak cards. It will also feature "Kraktags," a human-readable system similar to Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain names, that replaces convoluted blockchain addresses to simplify transactions.

"We built this on permissionless infrastructure. Public blockchains settle transactions globally, in real time. Assets are portable, interoperable and under your control," Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi wrote in a statement. "There are no intermediaries inserting friction or cost. That means faster settlement, lower fees and more access."

According to the statement, Krak's main source of revenue is expected to come through exchange fees when users swap one asset or currency for another. The app supports over 300 crypto and fiat currencies.

Krak is pitching itself as a crypto-native alternative to payment apps like Venmo and PayPal, which have integrated cryptocurrency services in recent years. Venmo introduced crypto trading features in 2021, about a year after PayPal launched similar services in 2020. Both firms integrated ENS into their platforms for streamlined crypto payments. PayPal also launched a stablecoin, PYUSD, in 2023.

The Block reached out to Kraken for additional comment.