Kraken's plan to buy Saldo, a Lithuanian bank, is expected to reach completion in 2027 after regulatory review; co-CEO Arjun Sethi separately outlined European plans for interest-bearing balances and loans backed by customer assets.
The transaction is expected to finish in 2027 after the regulatory process. Separately, Sethi said Kraken’s initial European plans include paying interest on balances and making loans secured by customers’ holdings.
Payment firms may keep customer money matched one-for-one, Sethi said, but generally cannot pay interest on it or use it as the basis for loans. He said banks can provide both services.
Speaking with The Wolf of All Streets on Oct. 18, Sethi said Kraken wants to combine trading, banking and asset-management services using systems it has built. His proposed account would display cash, crypto, tokenized stocks and futures margin together. Sethi said the design would draw exchange, brokerage and bank services into one system, with access across borders and outside standard business hours.
The intended system would let users borrow against assets they continue to hold, rather than sell them to raise cash, Sethi said. He said customers have asked for collateral that can be put to work at any hour across different asset types.
Sethi said Kraken has spent 15 years developing the systems behind its services, including custody, cryptographic key controls, cold storage, transaction approvals, liquidation capabilities, fiat payments, customer onboarding and licensing. He tied the company's product speed to its in-house technology and said it is in a phase of extending and refining that infrastructure.
Sethi also described possible roadmap features: using tokenized stocks as collateral on Sundays, sending stablecoin payments at any time and letting AI agents transfer funds or seek liquidity when customers are away. Kraken's acquisition of Saldo is expected to close in 2027 after the regulatory process.
