Why Kraken Wants EU Deposit Rails, Not Just Fees
The post Why Kraken Wants EU Deposit Rails, Not Just Fees appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Picture a euro trader trying to wire funds on a Friday, hoping to catch a weekend dip. The crypto exchange has liquidity. The market’s moving. But the deposit sits in limbo because the payment partner went into maintenance or got jittery. That exact choke point, the bank rail, is why Kraken is now chasing a full European banking licence, with Lithuania flagged as the preferred home. It’s not about another trading fee. It’s about controlling the pipe that money actually flows through. And the timing isn’t random. MiCA went live for exchanges in Europe on July 1, 2026, and the scoreboard already shows who’s leading in this new regime. DefiLlama’s MiCA dashboard lists Kraken as the liquidity leader among regulated EU venues, with roughly $399.7 million in spot liquidity and about $206.9 million in perpetuals, spanning around 1,704 markets DefiLlama (MiCA dashboard). The Big Picture: EU Banking M