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Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken raises $13.5M in BnkToTheFuture campaign
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken said today it has raised $13.5 million in new funding via crypto investment service BnkToTheFuture.
Kraken, formally known as Payward Inc., plans to use the money to make new acquisitions and expand existing business operations.
The fundraising was supported by 2,263 individual investors who invested into Kraken via a “special purpose vehicle.” Under the arrangement, the individual investors are treated as a single capital investor and do not become Kraken shareholders.
“The SPV then pools all the individual funders and acts as a single capital investor,” CoinDesk explained. “This technique allows Kraken to bypass the SEC requirement that force it to register as a public company under the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act.”
As a result, investors get a return only if Kraken goes public or gets acquired, or if the exchange undertakes a management buyout.
Investing in the offering, which had minimum investment of $1,000, came with additional benefits. Those benefits included Kraken CryptoWatch Premium membership, the ability to leverage the investment for margin collateral, priority customer support, free subscription to paid Kraken reports and investor chat rooms, and free Kraken swag and other benefits.
The amount raised by Kraken is relatively small given that it had raised more than $100 million and is seemingly profitable. The intention to use the money for acquisitions is somewhat surprising as well, although perhaps Kraken needed the extra capital after it spent a nine-figure sum to acquire U.K. cryptocurrency exchange and indices firm Crypto Facilities Ltd. in February.
For BnkToTheFuture, it’s another decent-sized round for a company that is the go-to site for cryptocurrency-related fundraising. Its investment alumni includes Coinbase Inc., Circle Inc., BitStamp Ltd., BitFinex (iFinex Inc.), Shapeshift and Ripple Labs Inc.
Founded in 2010, the company itself has raised money directly from investors, including $33 million in an initial coin offering in February 2018. BnkToTheFuture was last in the news June 17 when it acquired Altcoin.io, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange.
Photo: aumeran/Flickr
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