Kraken Financial Receives Federal Reserve Master Account With One-Year Restricted Term

Kraken Financial, the Wyoming-chartered bank affiliate of crypto exchange Kraken, has received a Federal Reserve master account providing direct access to the U.S. central bank's payment system, the company announced on March 4 and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City confirmed the same day. The approval makes Kraken Financial the first digital asset bank in U.S. history with direct Fed payment infrastructure access, enabling it to connect to core rails such as Fedwire without intermediary banks and initially supporting a phased rollout focused on institutional client activity. The Kansas City Fed said Kraken Financial is classified as a Tier 3 institution and has been granted a limited-purpose master account for an initial one-year term with restrictions aligned to its business model and risk profile, noting the bank will not earn interest on Fed balances and cannot use the discount window but will rely on its full-reserve liquidity structure under Wyoming's SPDI framework. The account will be subject to heightened oversight during rollout, while Kraken said capabilities will be integrated into Payward Inc.'s broader infrastructure over time in coordination with regulators, following more than five years of engagement with U.S. and Wyoming authorities.