Kraken (Payward, Inc.), a global Bitcoin exchange headquartered in San Francisco, is expanding its reach with the acquisition of New York-based Coinsetter Inc. and Cavirtex, a Canadian exchange based in Calgary was acquired by Coinsetter in 2015 after the former exchange suffered a hack that shut trading down.

This move allows Kraken to expand trading into the United States in what the exchange calls “an immediate and significant expansion into prime North American markets.” Although headquartered in the U.S., Kraken has historically only served European customers; this acquisition provides the exchange the foundation it needs to move onto the North American continent.

Coinsetter launched in 2013 for the New York market intended to capture a Wall Street high volume trader audience with Bitcoin to USD trading. Upon launch, Coinsetter began offering more advanced tools for trading directed at those traders. In 2015, Coinsetter added margin trades and shorting for business users allowing up to 5.0x leverage and then quickly opened up the service to all users.

Cavirtex, founded in 2011, holds the honor of being Canada’s first and longest-running exchange. After the 2015 hack that shut down trading on its platform, Coinsetter’s acquisition saved the exchange from closure. After the buy out, Coinsetter and Cavirtex continued to operate as separate entities.

The acquisition will allow Kraken to operate in most of the U.S. within 37 states and Washington D.C. as well as across all regions of Canada.

To celebrate the acquisition Kraken has also announced that all American and Canadian clients will enjoy free deposits of USD and CAD into the exchange until March 1, 2016.

The deal is expected to complete shortly and Coinsetter and Cavirtex will begin operating automatically under Kraken’s umbrella on January 26, 2016. Once complete, account holders will be directed to www.kraken.com to login, update account information and begin trading immediately.

Partnership with SynapsePay for US clients

In a related deal, Kraken also announced a partnership with payment processor SynapsePay (Synapse Payments, LLC) to open rapid, low-fee deposits and payments across 37 U.S. states and Washington DC via domestic wire. During the promotional period deposits are free; however, after the expiration the fee is $5. Withdrawals also have a flat $5 fee.

For Canadians, Kraken uses Vogogo Inc. for Interac and EFT deposits, no fee until the promotional period, 1 percent after ($10 CAD min and $50 CAD max for both methods.) Withdrawal options include EFT only with a $10 CAD flat fee.

Exchange pricing will include a maker-taker model with fees ranging from 0.0 percent to 0.26 percent.

photo credit: Severin Sadjina via photopin cc