Kraken's Krak Shot

Sponsor: Unichain — Faster swaps. Lower fees. Deeper liquidity. Explore Unichain on web and wallet.

1. 🙅‍♂️ Trump Dodges Question on Crypto Divestment. Trump sidestepped whether he would divest from his crypto ventures if that proved a sticking point for passing crypto legislation.
2. 🪦 Ledger Courts Critiques Over Killing Nano S Software Support. The hardware wallet, which the firm stopped selling in 2022, will no longer receive vital software updates.
3. 🛩️ Robinhood Rolls Out 'Micro Futures' for BTC, SOL, XRP. The product allows customers to trade futures with lower margin requirements than standard futures.

	Crypto $3.31T	↘ 0.3%	↗ 2.5%
	BTC $106,773	↘ 0.7%	↗ 3.4%
	ETH $2,407	↘ 1.2%	↘ 0.3%

Kraken is cooking up something addictive, designed to bring retail into the crypto payments game – the Krak App.

Krak is a global money app built for instant sending, digital rewards, and full flexibility. With Krak, users can send over 300 digital assets in seconds and free of charge to residents of 110 countries.

According to Kraken, this payments app is designed to fix the outdated norms of legacy finance by blending crypto technology with the exchange’s trusted network of banking relationships and payment partnerships.

Here’s everything you need to know about Krak. 👇

🧐 Onboarding to Krak

To get started, you’ll need to install the Krak app on your mobile device. Krak is available on the iOS App Store and Google Play.

If you already have a Kraken Exchange account, you'll need these credentials to sign into Krak. But if not, once Krak is downloaded, open the application and click “Create an account” to input your email address, create a password, add an optional invite code, and establish your country of residence (note: Krak is not available to residents of all states in America).

Then, verify your email address with a provided code, then complete the identification verification process by providing a phone number and then inputting your date of birth, address, and relevant government identification. After establishing your Krak account and verifying your identity, create a “Kraktag” (your 3 to 20 character public ID on Krak), then click “Claim your tag” if it is available.

Following the creation of your Kraktag, re-input your legal name as present on your government-issued identification, date of birth, address, and government ID number. Select the industry of your occupation, then choose how you plan to use Krak.

You’ll also then be asked to provide:

• How you plan to fund your account
• How much money you expect to send and withdraw monthly
• How many trades you plan to conduct each month
• An image of your valid government-issued photo ID
• An image of yourself
• Address verification via location services or written documentation

After completing the somewhat exhausting Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, you’ll finally be able to use Krak. You can fund your account by linking a bank account, credit card, or directly depositing whitelisted crypto assets.

From that point on, Krak operates much like any other payments application; simply search for other Kraktags you want to send funds to or request money from, add friends to your contact list, and convert between hundreds of available tokens and currencies in a unified interface. 

While payment transactions on Krak can be completed for free – no matter whether domestic or international – in-app fees apply when converting digital assets or currencies.

To celebrate the launch of Krak, Krak users who message the “@krak” team account and request 20 USDG by July 3 at 2:59 PM UTC will be entered into a 50-person sweepstake giveaway.

💪 Krak vs. Competitors

Although the KYC requirements of Krak make it substantially more intrusive than permissionless crypto-native networks, the user experience is undeniably more simplistic.

Compared to blockchain-based payments on networks like Ethereum, Krak offers:

• User-friendly tag address formats
• Seamless in-app token conversions
• 24/7 account recovery support
• Automatic yield on stablecoins

Compared to available U.S.-based fintech payments platforms, Krak offers:

• Native yield
• More available assets
• Free international payments

The jury is still out on whether Krak will establish itself as a leading payments application, but it is clear this application offers a compelling feature set that positions it competitively with both blockchain and TradFi-based payments services, particularly for audiences seeking free international payments or seamless crypto accessibility.

Unichain offers the most liquid Uniswap v4 deployment on any L2 – giving you better prices, less slippage, and smoother swaps on top trading pairs. All on a fast, low-cost, and fully transparent network. Start swapping on Unichain today.