Kraken Financial Secures Federal Reserve Master Account, Expanding Direct Access to U.S. Payment Rails

Kraken Financial, the Wyoming-chartered banking arm of crypto exchange Kraken operating under parent company Payward, has obtained a Federal Reserve master account for an initial one-year term, giving it direct access to U.S. payment systems such as Fedwire for institutional fiat transfers. Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said this direct connection allows the firm to function as a fully integrated financial institution in the U.S. banking system rather than as a peripheral participant, improving transaction speed while lowering operational complexity and costs for institutional clients. The move aligns with a broader push by crypto companies into traditional banking, as firms including Circle, Ripple, Paxos, Stripe-owned Bridge, and Crypto.com have received conditional national trust bank charters to provide regulated digital asset custody, staking, and trade settlement, while similar applications have been filed by Coinbase and stablecoin issuer World Liberty Financial, which is under investigation over its ties to President Donald Trump's family. The Federal Reserve, highlighting that the integrity and stability of the U.S. payments system remain a priority in this transformation, has framed Kraken's access as an example of how digital-asset firms can be integrated into established financial frameworks under close oversight.