Kraken Unveils

Parachain Auction Platform

Kraken clients can securely participate in Kusama’s Parachain Auctions without having to leave the exchange.

SAN FRANCISCO - June 8, 2021 - Kraken, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Europe by euro trading volume, has today announced it will support Parachain Auctions in time for the first rounds taking place on Kusama, the "canary network" for Polkadot.

Kraken clients, excluding those in select jurisdictions, will be able to participate in Parachain Auctions in the next few days. They can contribute Kusama to a project's parachain slot auction from today. The "Staking" vertical on the Kraken platform has now been renamed to "Earn," and eligible clients will be able to easily participate in auction rounds with just a few clicks.

"Kraken is not just an exchange: it's a platform that enables clients to seamlessly and securely participate in a whole range of cryptocurrency-related activities," said Jeremy Welch, Kraken's Chief Product Officer. "Parachain Auctions open up a whole new vista for cryptocurrency holders so they can back projects that will likely make substantive changes to various aspects of our lives. Kraken is proud to support these activities, as our role is to be a key infrastructure provider for the space."

Parachain Auctions are an innovative new mechanism that allows projects to compete for slots on Kusama’s Relay Chain, enabling token projects to launch on their own individual layer-1 blockchain but with their security rooted into Kusama’s ecosystem. Parachain Auctions are set to launch on Polkadot sometime later this year.

In a Parachain Auction, KSM holders effectively vote for the project they want to succeed by locking their KSM on the Kusama network. The projects with the most KSM locked on their behalf will generally win a Parachain slot for up to 48 weeks. Once the lockup period is over, holders also get their contributed KSM back.

To find out more about Parachain Auctions, please visit the Kraken Support Center or contact [email protected]. Jeremy Welch and Brian Hoffman are available for interview.

Based in San Francisco, Kraken is the world’s largest global digital asset exchange based on euro volume and liquidity. Globally, Kraken’s client base trades nearly 90 digital assets and 7 different fiat currencies, including GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, JPY, CHF and AUD.

Kraken was founded in 2011 and was the first U.S. crypto firm to receive a state-chartered banking license, as well as one of the first exchanges to offer spot trading with margin, regulated derivatives and index services. Kraken is trusted by well over 7 million traders, institutions and authorities around the world and offers professional, round the clock online support.

2021 is already a record year for Kraken. Year-to-date, Kraken has processed more than $320 billion in trading volume, more than three times the volume reported in 2020, our best year on record. Kraken is also the largest centralised staking provider in the world, with more than $10 billion worth of digital assets staked on its secure on-chain staking platform. Total client signups in the first half of 2021 were nearly fivefold the number of signups recorded across the whole of 2020.

Kraken is backed by investors including Tribe Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, Blockchain Capital and Digital Currency Group, among others. For more information about Kraken, please visit www.kraken.com.

Media inquiries: [email protected]

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