Kraken’s ‘Embed’ Cuts the Red Tape—Banks Can Now Plug Into Crypto’s $300B Liquidity Pool With a Single API

Wall Street’s long crypto cold war just got a shortcut. Kraken’s new Embed API lets traditional finance bypass years of infrastructure headaches—and regulatory hand-wringing—to tap digital asset markets overnight.

No more building custody solutions from scratch or negotiating with obscure OTC desks. One integration, and suddenly your legacy bank is trading Bitcoin like a degenerate hedge fund (but with better compliance docs).

Of course, the real question isn’t whether banks will use this. It’s how fast they’ll rebrand it as their own ‘innovative crypto gateway’ while charging clients 200bps for the privilege.

Institutions Get Crypto Trading with Kraken

Financial institutions, including neobanks, fintechs, and traditional banks, can use the service to manage trading services programmatically, relying on Kraken’s regulatory and technical support.

The product is already live through its first public partner, bunq, a European neobank. Additional integrations are expected to follow.

“Kraken is a global leader in crypto, with over 15 years of experience operating one of the world’s most liquid crypto marketplaces,” said Kraken’s Head of Payments and Blockchain BRETT McLain.

“Our Crypto-as-a-Service solution enables a wide range of financial institutions to efficiently meet growing client demand without the complexity and overhead of running their own marketplace,” said McLain.

He added that Embed would allow institutions to “adapt and thrive as crypto continues to gain mainstream adoption.”

Layoffs and Preparation for U.S. Listing

Kraken recently had another round of layoffs across multiple departments, marking the latest phase in its ongoing internal restructuring.

The job cuts, reported to affect hundreds of employees, are part of a broader effort to streamline operations as the company prepares for a potential U.S. public listing in 2025.

The exchange previously reduced its workforce by 15% in October 2024, including the departure of senior executives.

Since the appointment of Arjun Sethi as co-CEO, the company has reportedly adopted a “rolling program” of layoffs while continuing to hire in select strategic areas.

“Embed” comes at a moment when the regulatory environment for digital assets is beginning to stabilize in key markets.

Rather than building full-scale crypto operations from scratch, institutions are increasingly turning to infrastructure providers to meet customer demand while staying within their compliance thresholds.