CoinDesk
Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the crypto exchange is "about 80% ready" to go public, framing the disclosure alongside a new partnership with MoneyGram aimed at solving what the company calls crypto's "last-mile" cash problem. Speaking alongside MoneyGram chairman and CEO Anthony Soohoo at Consensus Miami, Sethi tied the two announcements together — a public-market debut and a retail-cash on-ramp that the firms describe as complementary.
The MoneyGram partnership gives Kraken access to roughly 500,000 retail locations worldwide, a footprint neither crypto exchange has matched. MoneyGram was taken private in 2023 and is now rebuilding under Soohoo; both executives framed the deal as a way to convert digital assets into physical cash in regions where bank infrastructure lags, with Sethi pointing specifically to Latin America as a priority market.
Why it matters
CoinDesk reported in March that Kraken had paused its IPO plans after confidentially filing with the SEC in November, with sources suggesting the exchange was waiting for better market conditions before formally listing. Sethi's "80% ready" framing is the clearest signal yet that Kraken sees the window reopening, and it lands as a string of crypto-native firms — Circle, Bullish, Gemini — have either filed or accelerated their public-market timelines this year.
The MoneyGram tie-up matters independently of the IPO. Stablecoins were the explicit unlock both CEOs named: Soohoo said they can "remove waste" and lower costs across the cross-border payments stack, while Sethi was more pointed — "intermediaries are the losers here, but they should be." Folding 500,000 cash locations into a stablecoin-settled rail is the closest the industry has come to a real consumer-grade on-and-off ramp at global retail scale.
Market impact
For Kraken, the dual signal — public-market readiness plus a flagship institutional partnership — sets up the exchange as a credible next listing candidate, with the MoneyGram name giving the IPO narrative a payments-infrastructure hook rather than a pure-trading-volume story.
Frequently asked questions
-
Is Kraken actually going public?
Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said at Consensus Miami that Kraken is "about 80% ready" to go public. The exchange confidentially filed with the SEC in November and paused its listing plans in March pending better market conditions, per CoinDesk reporting cited at the event.
-
What does the MoneyGram partnership do for Kraken?
The deal gives Kraken access to roughly 500,000 MoneyGram retail locations worldwide, letting users convert digital assets into physical cash — what both CEOs called solving crypto's "last mile" problem, particularly in underbanked markets like Latin America.
-
How does this affect stablecoins?
Both CEOs framed stablecoins as the core rail for the partnership. MoneyGram's Anthony Soohoo said they can "remove waste" across cross-border payments, while Kraken's Sethi was more direct: "Intermediaries are the losers here, but they should be."
-
When might Kraken's IPO happen?
Kraken has not set a date. Companies that confidentially file with the SEC typically have a 12-18 month window before they must go public or refile, putting a potential listing sometime in 2026 if Kraken pushes through this year.
-
Why is MoneyGram relevant to crypto?
MoneyGram operates roughly 500,000 retail cash locations globally and was taken private in 2023. The Kraken partnership re-anchors the remittance incumbent around digital-asset rails at a moment when stablecoin-settled competitors are pressuring cross-border payment incumbents.
CoinTelegraph
TheBlock
WuBlockchain
CryptoSlate