In an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday, Kraken‘s founder and CEO Jesse Powell told the publication the company plans to launch a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which will allow users to arrange loans using the tokens as collateral.
Powell said the marketplace will provide custody, and the company is working on determining the liquidation value of NFTs so they can be used as collateral for loans.
Kraken follows major exchanges like Coinbase and FTX in establishing a market for NFT assets as their popularity continues to soar.
DappRadar data indicates that OpenSea, one of the top NFT marketplaces, transacted more than $2 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days.
Although NFTfi, founded in February 2020, and crypto lender Nexo already offer NFT-backed loans, Kraken is likely to be the biggest exchange to offer them.
About Kraken
Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in the United States, enables market participants to trade many cryptocurrencies. A wide range of fiat currencies is supported for the purchase or sale of cryptocurrencies, including U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, euros, and the Japanese yen.
Among the virtual currencies available on the Kraken exchange are the popular ones, such as Bitcoin (XBT) and Ethereum (ETH) as well as newer ones like EOS (EOS) and Monero (XMR).
Founded in 2011, Kraken began trading operations in 2013. Kraken is owned by Payward Inc., led by CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell.
