Bitcoin exchange Kraken considers going public after record trading volumes in the first quarter

Bitcoin exchange Kraken considers going public after record trading volumes in the first quarter

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is considering going public through a direct listing in 2022, after seeing record trading volumes and new clients amid a surge in the price of bitcoin.

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one the world's biggest crypto exchanges. It has more than 6 million clients and is the fourth-largest exchange by trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Jesse Powell, Kraken's CEO and co-founder, said in an interview that the firm had benefited significantly from the bitcoin rally. Bitcoin hit a record high price of over $60,000 mid-March, with traders attributing the move to institutional investors jumping into the market.

"For us, any volatility is good but it's always better when it's on the way up," Powell told CNBC. "The first quarter just completely blew away the entirety of last year. We beat last year's numbers by the end of February. The whole market has really just exploded."

Kraken saw four times as many new users sign up to its platform in the first quarter of this year than it did in the second half of 2020. Spot trading volumes in the first quarter were 1.5 times higher than in all of last year, reaching a record level of $160 billion.