--- title: "For the First Time, a Cryptocurrency Exchange Is Becoming a US Bank" description: "Kraken has been approved by Wyoming Banking Board to be a special purpose depository institution. Learn about this cryptocurrency bank." date: "2020-09-16" modified: "2020-09-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/cryptocurrency-exchange-becoming-us-bank" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "crypto" - "cryptocurrency" - "the digest" --- # For the First Time, a Cryptocurrency Exchange Is Becoming a US Bank ![The Wyoming Banking Board just voted to approve Kraken, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, as a special purpose depository institution.]() *\Image: Kraken\* ## Making Bank The Wyoming Banking Board just voted to approve Kraken, a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, as a special purpose depository institution (SPDI). In other words, it's the first crypto exchange in the country poised to become a bank, as [*CoinDesk* reports](). "By becoming a bank we get direct access to federal payments infrastructure, and we can more seamlessly integrate banking and funding options for customers," David Kinitsky, a managing director at Kraken and the CEO of the newly formed Kraken Financial, told *CoinDesk*. ## Special Access If its efforts pay off, Kraken Financial will no longer have to deal with a variety of different rules for regulating digital assets, depending on which state. SPDI banks in Wyoming, as [first established]() in November 2019, are still different than regular national banks. They never actually hold full legal ownership over any digital assets, but are legally allowed to hold them. Any assets following a bankruptcy must be returned to customers. ## Crypto Debit Kraken has big plans now that it has been approved. "We would expect to offer a host of new products as we get established," Kinitsky told *CoinDesk*. "Those will range from things like qualified custody for institutions, digital-asset debit cards and savings accounts all the way to new types of asset classes." In July, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a ruling allowing national banks to provide custody services to cryptocurrency startups. Kraken Financial is now focused on building out its teams and is preparing to fully take over customer services for its operations. **READ MORE:** [Kraken Becomes First Crypto Exchange to Become a US Bank]() \[*CoinDesk*\] **More on crypto:** *[Marine Corps Bans Service Members From Mining Bitcoin on Military Devices]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()