Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Wells Fargo is on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars after a jury in Florida found the bank charged unauthorized fees and mishandled a trust fund established for minors.

The law firm representing the Seminole Minors Per Capita Payment Trust, a trust fund set up by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to safeguard the financial futures of around 2,000 children, says Wells Fargo is set to pay $825 million in damages and over $7 million compensation for the unauthorized fees charged.

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The lawsuit accused Wells Fargo and eight of its executives of breaching fiduciary duty to the tribe and its children. The eight Wells Fargo executives were ordered to individually pay token damages of between $50 to $500.

According to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Wells Fargo relationship manager Kim Scott confessed to the bank’s wrongdoing during cross-examination

“…Scott admitted Wells Fargo knowingly mismanaged funds, maintained inadequate records, and collected millions in unauthorized fees. Scott also revealed he had never fully reviewed the Trust’s governing documents, despite managing one of the bank’s largest accounts.”

Wells Fargo was fired as the trust fund’s trustee in 2016 after officials of the Seminole Tribe conducted a review of the rate of returns. Wells Fargo’s investment strategy reportedly resulted in returns that barely kept pace with inflation. The leaders of the Seminole Tribe also questioned illegal fees amounting to $7.6 million that Wells Fargo had charged the trust.

Following the jury verdict, Wells Fargo says it will appeal. A spokesperson for Wells Fargo’s Wealth and Investment Management department, Meghan McDonald, says.

“We followed the [Seminole] Tribal Government’s clear and repeated instructions about the management of the trust, abided by our fiduciary duty, and delivered financial results consistent with the Trust’s mandate for the children of the Tribe during our time as Trustee. Our goal for the appeal is to address multiple courtroom rulings that we believe prevented us from sharing the full story with the jury.”

The Seminole Minors Per Capita Payment Trust was set up two decades ago with the sole trustee being Wachovia Bank, which Wells Fargo acquired in 2008. The trust derived its resources primarily from the Tribe’s gaming enterprises. Currently, estimates place the trust’s assets at nearly $3 billion.

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Own. app, a decentralized social media platform focused on creator monetization, on Thursday announced it has partnered with Ubuntu Tribe to integrate GIFT Gold, a gold-backed stablecoin, into its ecosystem.

This marks the first gold-pegged payment integration designed specifically for Africa's creator economy, a sector projected to surpass $30 billion by 2027.

Under the partnership, creators using Own. app in markets like Kenya, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire will now be able to receive loyalty rewards, tips and subscription payments denominated in GIFT Gold, a digital asset backed 1:1 by audited physical gold reserves.

The move addresses the volatility of fiat and crypto payments, which often limit consistent income for digital entrepreneurs across African nations.

GIFT Gold provides an alternative, functioning as a medium of exchange and store of value and offering users a path to long-term wealth generation without exposure to inflation or token price swings.

Also Read: After $3.5B Bitcoin Windfall, Tim Draper Reloads With Fund 8—Here’s What’s Coming

"This isn't just another tech partnership, but rather an opportunity to build financial and creative sovereignty," said Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, CEO of Ubuntu Tribe. "We're merging Africa's legacy of gold with the future of work."

Own. app plans to launch the pilot with 1,000 early creators, with ambitions to scale access to 100,000 users across the continent and the African diaspora by 2026.

A full deployment of the app's plug-in architecture will roll out in late 2025, further embedding GIFT Gold and related financial products into the platform.

Katia Zaitsev, COO and co-founder of Own. app, added that the integration aligns with the platform's mission to "return power to the creators" and offer a decentralized financial infrastructure that matches real-world user needs.

An in-person event is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025 to engage local creators, demonstrate the integration, and host roundtables on policy and decentralized finance.

Read Next:
• $332 Million To Minus $85 Million: Why Are Ethereum ETFs Suddenly More Popular Than Bitcoin ETFs?

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TLDR: Kraken closed a $500M funding round at a $15B valuation as it prepares for a 2026 IPO listing. Tribe Capital and its co-founder Arjun Sethi were among the participants, with Sethi also investing personally. The exchange acquired NinjaTrader for $1.5B, adding 2M pro traders to its customer base this year. Kraken is building products like xStocks to attract retail users while strengthening its institutional trading business. Kraken has pulled off one of its biggest moves yet. The crypto exchange has quietly closed a $500 million funding round, setting its valuation at $15 billion. The raise comes as the company sharpens its focus on growth and public listing plans. 

Investors from major venture capital firms and asset managers joined the round. The exchange is now positioning itself for a 2026 IPO while pushing into new markets and product categories.

Kraken Funding Round and Valuation According to Wu Blockchain, Kraken structured the round itself with no single lead investor. The $500 million raise attracted a mix of institutional players, including Tribe Capital, where co-CEO Arjun Sethi serves as chairman. Sethi personally participated in the round.

Crypto exchange Kraken has completed a $500M funding round at a $15B valuation. The round had no single lead investor and was structured by Kraken itself. Participants included investment firms, venture capital funds, and CEO Arjun Sethi’s Tribe Capital, with Sethi also investing…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 26, 2025

Kraken’s valuation now stands at $15 billion, aligning with its strategy to secure capital before going public. 

Fortune reported that the company generated $411 million in revenue in Q2 and almost $80 million in post-Ebitda earnings. These figures give it one of the strongest balance sheets among crypto exchanges preparing to list.

The funds are expected to accelerate Kraken’s global expansion. The exchange has been building new trading products, acquisitions, and infrastructure to capture more market share. This year, it acquired NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, adding 2 million professional traders to its customer base.

IPO Preparations and Leadership Kraken’s IPO target date is now set for 2026, slightly later than many competitors who went public this year. 

According to Fortune, Sethi is leading much of the IPO preparation process, shaping the company’s future direction. His background in venture capital gives him a data-driven approach to strategy and product rollouts.

The company has also seen leadership changes as part of its restructuring. Several senior executives departed during Sethi’s tenure, and the company made internal adjustments to streamline operations. Kraken stated that the changes were aimed at making the organization leaner and faster.

Beyond IPO readiness, Kraken is developing new products like xStocks, tokenized shares of popular companies tradable on-chain. This could attract retail traders in markets where traditional stock access remains expensive. 

The exchange continues to focus on professional and institutional clients through its pro trading tools and liquidity services.

With crypto markets seeing renewed IPO activity, Kraken’s decision to wait may be risky, but it gives the firm more time to refine operations. The company remains one of the most established exchanges with multiple revenue streams and a strong institutional base.

DePIN Grass raises $10M from Polychain, Tribe Capital

DePIN platform, Grass, has secured $10 million from two leading crypto investors in Polychain and Tribe Capital.

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), Grass, has announced a new capital raise which sees the project laden with some $10 million in fresh investor capital.

The raise takes the form of a bridging round, following on from a Series A investment round, completed in September 2024, which was led by Hack VC - The total raised in the Series A was not disclosed but itself followed a $3.5 million Seed round.

This new raise saw participation from both Polychain and Tribe Capital, both of which are well known venture capital firms within the cryptocurrency industry.

For context, Polychain tallies some of crypto’s most established platforms in its portfolio, including Ava Labs (the company behind the Avalanche blockchain), Oasis Labs, and Dfinity (the company behind Internet Computer).

Tribe Capital, meanwhile, boasts and AUM of some ~$1.8 billion, alongside historical investments into the likes of Berachain and Kraken exchange.

Though the terms of the raise have not been disclosed, Blockworks reported that it was mainly conducted via the sale of the project’s native $GRASS token, presumably with some lock-up or release schedule applied.

According to a post on Grass’ official X/Twitter account, “This investment will be used to support growth, expand infrastructure, and accelerate the path to our goal of an internet scale web crawl.”

What is Grass?Launched in October 2024, Grass operates a layer-2 network atop the Solana blockchain which, in turn, allows network users and participants to monetize their excess bandwidth, thereby creating income streams from an otherwise idle resource.

This bandwidth is paid for by companies training large AI models, and users are rewarded for their contributions in the form of the $GRASS token. 

Though the underlying technology behind Grass is complex and built for purpose, the end user experience is smooth and simple. Would-be participants need only download the GRASS browser extension or application, establish their device as a node, and begin earning ‘points’ which are converted into tokens at specific points. 

The $GRASS token itself holds a market cap of more than $200 million, as of October 8, 2025, and is listed on tier-one centralized exchanges such as Bybit, Kraken and Bitget. 

Sources:Grass’ X/Twitter Page: Fundraising AnnouncementsGrass’ Official Website: General Information on the ProjectCoinMarketCap: $GRASS Token Price Data & Exchange Listings.Author

Jon Wang

Jon studied Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and has been researching cryptocurrency full-time since 2019. He started his career managing channels and creating content for Coin Bureau, before transitioning to investment research for venture capital funds, specializing in early-stage crypto investments. Jon has served on the committee for the Blockchain Society at the University of Cambridge and has studied nearly all areas of the blockchain industry, from early stage investments and altcoins, through to the macroeconomic factors influencing the sector.

Crypto exchange Toobit has just rolled out an upgraded version of its Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) platform. The now-called Toobit Launchpad is kicking things off with an exclusive gamefi presale for Idle Tribe Era (ITE).

The revamped platform, which replaces Toobit’s old Speed Zone, has been redesigned with traders in mind. It’s meant to give users a smoother and safer way to get into early-stage blockchain projects. One new feature is a three-day price protection policy, which gives investors their money back if a token’s price falls below its sale value within the first 72 hours after listing.

According to Mike Williams, Chief Communication Officer at Toobit, the revamped platform is meant to create a fairer and more transparent environment for early-stage crypto investments. He said:

The launch of Toobit Launchpad marks a step to connect our community with the most promising projects in the blockchain space.

Idle Tribe Era Becomes the First Project on the Toobit Lauchpad The first project to land on the new Toobit Launchpad is Idle Tribe Era (ITE) presale, which will run from November 10, 2025, at 8:00 a.m. UTC to November 11, 2025, at 6:00 a.m. UTC. ITE is a strategy-driven game built on the BNB Smart Chain that blends casual “idle” gameplay with deep economic layers.

The GameFi project enables players to grow and manage their own tribes, explore new territories, and trade everything they earn as NFTs, including heroes and resources.

In a press release, Williams added:

 By upgrading our platform and kicking off with the ITE presale, we are enhancing user safety with features like our 3-day price protection while simultaneously providing unparalleled access to high-quality, early-stage investment opportunities.

Toobit Taps Into Booming GameFi Market The update to Toobit Launchpad comes as the IEO market heats up again in 2025, with more retail traders looking for credible ways to access early token sales. The exchange says it has responded to growing demand for vetted projects and investor protection measures.

Industry analysts expect the GameFi sector to balloon from about $22 billion this year to over $120 billion by 2032, driven by new gaming economies that reward player participation. Launching with ITE gives Toobit a strong entry point into that momentum.

Expanded Payment Options and Fair Access Beyond price protection, the Launchpad now supports a range of crypto payment options, including USDT, BTC, ETH, and more, to make participation smoother for users worldwide. Each project listed will come with its own participation rules and limits to ensure a fair process for both large and small investors.

With this move, Toobit is positioning its Launchpad as a safer, more reliable gateway for discovering high-potential Web3 projects, and giving its users a front-row seat to the next wave of blockchain innovation.

Kraken Secures $800 Million Capital Led by Jane Street and Citadel Securities at $20 Billion Valuation

**Crypto Market Selloff: Bitcoin Drops Below $84k, $974M in Liquidations; BOJ Hike Hints Cited** On Dec 2, Bitcoin briefly fell below $84,000, dropping more than 8% at one point. The total crypto market cap dipped below $3 trillion, with $974 million in liquidations across the network over the past 24 hours—including $851 million in long positions and over 260,000 liquidated accounts. Arthur Hayes attributed the crash to the Bank of Japan (BOJ) hinting at a possible December rate hike. The USD/JPY pair traded in the 155-160 range, signaling the BOJ’s hawkish stance. Threshold Network co-founder Maclane Wilkison noted: “The BOJ’s impending rate hike signal has tightened global liquidity expectations and shaken risk assets.” Strategy CEO Phong Le stated the firm would only sell Bitcoin if its stock price falls below net asset value (NAV) and it can’t secure new funding. Markets are concerned Strategy may be forced to offload Bitcoin to cover dividends if Bitcoin’s price continues to weaken. Previously, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Tether’s USDT stablecoin from “Restricted” to “Weak,” warning a Bitcoin price drop could expose USDT to under-collateralization risks. Hayes added that a ~30% decline in the “gold + BTC position” would wipe out equity, making USDT theoretically insolvent. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino pushed back against “Tether FUD,” saying the group’s equity is nearly $30 billion. He noted S&P ignored additional group equity and ~$500 million in monthly base profits from U.S. Treasury yields alone. Tribe Capital General Partner Boris Revsin called the move a “leverage washout” triggering a market-wide chain reaction. The macro backdrop has grown less favorable: short-term rate cut expectations have faded, inflation remains sticky, the labor market is weakening, geopolitical risks are rising, and consumer pressures are mounting—weighing on most risk assets over the past two months. Cardiff founder William Stern said: “With less than a week until the Fed meeting and unclear inflation data, institutional investors are actively cutting risk. They’re unwilling to hold volatile assets like Bitcoin to avoid any hawkish comments from Powell.”

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BCA Research raises its S&P 500 target to 8,100 points, with AI remaining a core variable.

BCA Research has become the latest strategy firm to raise its US stock market target, reflecting Wall Street’s growing optimism about earnings support for US equities in the second half of the year. The institution lifted its year-end S&P 500 target from 7,700 points to 8,100 points. BCA’s core view is that first-quarter corporate earnings exceeded expectations in both strength and breadth, and the US economy has re-entered an expansion phase. Similar to JPMorgan Chase, BCA believes this stock rally is not only driven by valuation expansion—earnings themselves are delivering the index’s gains. AI remains the core variable in this assessment. Large tech firms including Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Oracle continue to increase capital spending on data centers and AI infrastructure, driving growth in orders for chips, servers, construction, power and related industrial chains. This provides a clearer fundamental basis for upward revisions to 2026 and 2027 earnings. The institution points out that risks exist: the earnings expansion brought by AI investments has already been quickly priced into the market. If subsequent returns on capital spending are questioned, or interest rates remain elevated, further upside for the index will require more earnings confirmation rather than relying solely on investor risk appetite.

5 minutes ago

Tom Lee: Markets have nearly priced in two interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year, and the rise in US Treasury yields is weighing on market sentiment.

Tom Lee said the market is still digesting Kevin Warsh’s remarks from his first press conference last week and repricing the macro environment. Over the past week, oil prices have pulled back, with war premiums contracting. Current oil prices are not far from the roughly $65 level seen before the conflict, indicating the market views related war risks as declining. On the other hand, 10-year U.S. Treasury yields continue to rise, now around 4.5%, higher than the pre-conflict level of roughly 4.2%. The main headwind the market has faced recently has shifted from oil prices to yields. Tom Lee noted that the market is not only focused on 10-year U.S. Treasury yields but also starting to price in potential additional interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. According to federal funds futures, the market is currently pricing in nearly two rate hikes this year. Bank of America further projected today that the Fed will raise rates three times this year, in September, October, and December respectively. Jeffrey Gundlach often emphasizes the importance of monitoring 2-year U.S. Treasury yields, as they typically lead the Fed and signal the central bank’s policy direction. Between 2023 and 2025, the relationship between 2-year U.S. Treasury yields and the federal funds rate indicated that the Fed’s policy was overly tight, requiring interest rate cuts. However, this relationship has recently reversed, meaning the Fed would need two rate hikes to catch up with 2-year U.S. Treasury yields. He believes that, at least for now, yields have become a headwind for the market.

5 minutes ago

Japan and South Korea's stock markets closed higher across the board, with Japan's stock market hitting a new closing high.

According to Bitget market data, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 3,191.37 points, or 4.61%, at 72,366.34 points on Thursday, June 25, hitting a new all-time closing high. South Korea’s KOSPI index rose 459.76 points (5.43%) to end at 8,930.78 points; SK Hynix surged 13% while Samsung Electronics gained more than 5%.

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A newly created wallet withdrew 17,675 ETH from Binance, valued at $28.58 million.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet withdrew 17,675 ETH from Binance, valued at $28.58 million.

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JPMorgan Chase raised its S&P 500 target to 7,800 points, while warning of an overcrowded AI trade.

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Preview: The U.S. May core PCE data will be released at 20:30 tonight, and is projected to hit its highest level since October 2023.

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January 13 — U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is officially backing a newly formed Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) set to go public via a Kraken-affiliated sponsor. The blank-check firm, KrakAcquisition (backed by Kraken, Tribe Capital, and Natural Capital), filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, January 13, aiming to raise up to $250 million in its initial public offering (IPO). Per the SEC filing, the Cayman Islands-registered exempt company plans to issue 25 million shares at $10 each in July 2025 and target a Nasdaq Global Market listing under the ticker symbol “KRAQU.” While the SPAC focuses on crypto infrastructure companies, Kraken separately filed a confidential S-1 form in November 2024 seeking a potential IPO of its common stock.

Relevant content

BCA Research raises its S&P 500 target to 8,100 points, with AI remaining a core variable.

BCA Research has become the latest strategy firm to raise its US stock market target, reflecting Wall Street’s growing optimism about earnings support for US equities in the second half of the year. The institution lifted its year-end S&P 500 target from 7,700 points to 8,100 points. BCA’s core view is that first-quarter corporate earnings exceeded expectations in both strength and breadth, and the US economy has re-entered an expansion phase. Similar to JPMorgan Chase, BCA believes this stock rally is not only driven by valuation expansion—earnings themselves are delivering the index’s gains. AI remains the core variable in this assessment. Large tech firms including Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Oracle continue to increase capital spending on data centers and AI infrastructure, driving growth in orders for chips, servers, construction, power and related industrial chains. This provides a clearer fundamental basis for upward revisions to 2026 and 2027 earnings. The institution points out that risks exist: the earnings expansion brought by AI investments has already been quickly priced into the market. If subsequent returns on capital spending are questioned, or interest rates remain elevated, further upside for the index will require more earnings confirmation rather than relying solely on investor risk appetite.

5 minutes ago

Tom Lee: Markets have nearly priced in two interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year, and the rise in US Treasury yields is weighing on market sentiment.

Tom Lee said the market is still digesting Kevin Warsh’s remarks from his first press conference last week and repricing the macro environment. Over the past week, oil prices have pulled back, with war premiums contracting. Current oil prices are not far from the roughly $65 level seen before the conflict, indicating the market views related war risks as declining. On the other hand, 10-year U.S. Treasury yields continue to rise, now around 4.5%, higher than the pre-conflict level of roughly 4.2%. The main headwind the market has faced recently has shifted from oil prices to yields. Tom Lee noted that the market is not only focused on 10-year U.S. Treasury yields but also starting to price in potential additional interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. According to federal funds futures, the market is currently pricing in nearly two rate hikes this year. Bank of America further projected today that the Fed will raise rates three times this year, in September, October, and December respectively. Jeffrey Gundlach often emphasizes the importance of monitoring 2-year U.S. Treasury yields, as they typically lead the Fed and signal the central bank’s policy direction. Between 2023 and 2025, the relationship between 2-year U.S. Treasury yields and the federal funds rate indicated that the Fed’s policy was overly tight, requiring interest rate cuts. However, this relationship has recently reversed, meaning the Fed would need two rate hikes to catch up with 2-year U.S. Treasury yields. He believes that, at least for now, yields have become a headwind for the market.

5 minutes ago

Japan and South Korea's stock markets closed higher across the board, with Japan's stock market hitting a new closing high.

According to Bitget market data, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 3,191.37 points, or 4.61%, at 72,366.34 points on Thursday, June 25, hitting a new all-time closing high. South Korea’s KOSPI index rose 459.76 points (5.43%) to end at 8,930.78 points; SK Hynix surged 13% while Samsung Electronics gained more than 5%.

5 minutes ago

A newly created wallet withdrew 17,675 ETH from Binance, valued at $28.58 million.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet withdrew 17,675 ETH from Binance, valued at $28.58 million.

5 minutes ago

JPMorgan Chase raised its S&P 500 target to 7,800 points, while warning of an overcrowded AI trade.

JPMorgan Chase has raised its year-end outlook for U.S. stocks, while cautioning investors that the overcrowding in AI-related momentum stocks is becoming the market’s most vulnerable segment. The JPMorgan strategy team led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas lifted its 2026 year-end target for the S&P 500 from 7,600 to 7,800 points, citing continued upward revisions to corporate earnings expectations and nearly doubling of AI-related capital expenditures. The bank noted that consensus earnings expectations for both 2026 and 2027 have been revised up by roughly 10% since the start of the year, a magnitude typically only seen in the recovery phase after a recession or major shock. However, JPMorgan does not interpret this upward revision as a risk-free rally. The bank pointed out that low-quality growth stocks, speculative growth stocks, and second- and third-tier AI-related concept stocks have become "extremely overcrowded," and a pullout of capital could trigger a rapid correction. The strategists also noted that rising equity supply in the coming quarters and potentially tight monetary policy could cap further valuation expansion. On the allocation front, JPMorgan recommends a barbell strategy: holding high-quality growth stocks and stocks directly benefiting from AI on one end, and low-volatility, high-quality stocks as a portfolio buffer on the other. The bank remains bullish on tech, select industrials, utilities, defense, banks, and some healthcare growth stocks, but believes the market’s upward trajectory will not be linear.

5 minutes ago

Preview: The U.S. May core PCE data will be released at 20:30 tonight, and is projected to hit its highest level since October 2023.

The Fed’s key inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, will be released at 20:30 tonight, with markets expecting a sharp rise in May inflation that could reignite rate hike bets. The headline PCE year-over-year growth rate is projected to hit 4.1% in May, up from 3.8% in April and marking its highest level since 2023. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, is forecast to rise to 3.4% year-over-year, up from 3.3% in April and its highest reading since October 2023. Core PCE has remained above the Fed’s 2% inflation target since 2021. The recent short-term inflation uptick was driven mainly by surging gasoline prices amid the Iran conflict in May. Oil prices have since edged lower following the signing of a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, but core inflation has strengthened in tandem, indicating that price pressures are not solely tied to geopolitical oil shocks. Data from the CME FedWatch Tool shows that as of Wednesday, markets are pricing in a 34% probability of a 25 basis point rate hike in July. Aditya Bhave, U.S. economist at Bank of America Securities, noted that the recent inflation rebound stems in part from tariffs and one-off disruptions, but successive supply shocks have eroded the Fed’s patience, while deflationary room in the housing sector has largely been exhausted. Data shows that core PCE dipped to 2.6% in April, its lowest level since 2022, but annualized core PCE growth over the past three and six months has hovered near 3.8%.

5 minutes ago

TLDR Table of Contents

TLDRKRAKacquisition’s Nasdaq debutKraken’s strategy with SPAC-backed listingGet 3 Free Stock Ebooks KRAKacquisition Corp completed an upsized $345 million IPO, surpassing its initial target of $250 million. The company’s units began trading on Nasdaq on January 28 under the ticker KRAQU. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-quarter of a redeemable warrant. Kraken, along with Natural Capital and Tribe Capital, sponsors the blank-check company. The offering included 34.5 million units, with 4.5 million sold through the exercise of the underwriter’s overallotment option. KRAKacquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Kraken, has raised $345 million through its upsized initial public offering (IPO). The offering, which was completed on January 28, marks the company’s debut on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol KRAQU. The deal exceeded initial expectations, raising more than originally planned, as investor demand led to an upsized offering.

The IPO included 34.5 million units, each priced at $10, with 4.5 million units sold following the exercise of the underwriter’s overallotment option. Gross proceeds reached $345 million before fees and expenses, far surpassing the initial target of $250 million. Kraken, an affiliate of Natural Capital and Tribe Capital, sponsors the blank-check company, which intends to pursue a future merger or acquisition.

KRAKacquisition Corp’s units began trading on January 28 under the ticker KRAQU. The offering comprised units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-quarter of a redeemable warrant. Once the units separate, the shares will trade under the symbol KRAQ, and the warrants will trade as KRAQW. Each full warrant is exercisable at $11.50 per share.

Santander US Capital Markets served as the sole underwriter for the offering. A registration statement for the IPO became effective on January 27. “The IPO was completed successfully, thanks to strong demand from investors,” said the company in a press release.

Kraken’s strategy with SPAC-backed listing KRAKacquisition Corp is sponsored by an affiliate of Kraken, which aims to assess potential merger or acquisition targets over time. The structure of the SPAC allows the company to hold capital in trust while maintaining the flexibility to pursue future transactions. Kraken and its partners are keeping their options open while awaiting the right opportunity for a potential deal.

The decision to use a SPAC route reflects Kraken’s strategic approach, as the company has not yet identified a specific target.