Kraken-Affiliated KRAKacquisition Plans to Go Public

Kraken-affiliated company KRAKacquisition Corp is the latest cryptocurrency firm planning to go public.

KRAKacquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by an affiliate of crypto exchange Kraken, filed Monday (Jan. 12) to go public with a $250 million initial public offering (IPO). The company plans to offer 25 million shares at $10 each.

The name “KRAKaquision” denotes a connection between the SPAC and Kraken’s in-house payments solution, Krak, CoinDesk reported Tuesday (Jan. 13). The IPO offers Kraken a new path to bring crypto businesses into public markets, while also potentially boosting its own crypto infrastructure services.

The filing is the latest in a series of IPOs by crypto firms in the last year, with Circle, Bullish and Gemini all going public. The trend continued into the new year, with crypto custody startup BitGo announcing Monday that it is seeking a valuation of up to $1.96 billion with its IPO.

Kraken itself filed for an IPO in November and weeks later announced plans to acquire tokenized assets platform Backed Finance.

Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said at the time that the acquisition lets the company integrate stocks and exchange-traded funds more deeply into its platform.

In other crypto news, PYMNTS on Tuesday debuted “From the Block,” a podcast created in partnership with Citi.

The first episode featured a conversation between PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster and Ryan Rugg, global head of digital assets for Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions, about regulation following the passage of last year’s GENIUS Act.

Rugg framed the bill as part of a larger shift in how the U.S. government is thinking about innovation in financial services.

“Looking back on 2025, GENIUS was one key legislative piece,” Rugg said. “But if you think about it, there was also an executive order signed by President [Donald] Trump. The bitcoin reserve is established. So clearly, a foundational shift in the way that this administration is thinking about not just digital assets, but innovation overall.”

For regulated institutions, that posture is important, she said, adding that banks aren’t operating in gray areas. They require defined rules to invest, integrate and scale.

“This is giving that pathway to our regulators to start laying those foundations for many institutions,” Rugg said.