US crypto firms expand offerings as Trump takes over

Kraken Pay is only the latest product in the growing crypto payments landscape

article-image

Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan last week said that the US banking industry will have to adapt their businesses to allow for crypto payments, should regulations progress. 

“If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it,” Moynihan told CNBC at the World Economic Forum. 

Crypto exchange Kraken today launched a new payments platform — Kraken Pay, which allows customers to transfer assets directly from their exchange accounts. Kraken Pay supports more than 300 fiat currencies and crypto tokens. Sending assets is free, but converting assets from one currency to another when making a transfer will come with fees. 

​​“Crypto isn’t just the future of finance — it’s the now,” Kraken global head of consumer Mark Greenberg said. “We’re eliminating the barriers of slow payments and outrageous fees while bringing real-world utility to your fingertips.” 

Kraken Pay is only the latest product in the growing crypto payments landscape. 

Payment service Venmo dipped its toe in the crypto pool back in 2021. Ripple says its payments product is getting a facelift this year. 

The payments space, from cross-border and remittances to peer-to-peer transactions, has long been an area crypto fans insist is ripe for disruption. 

With more crypto-friendly federal regulators in charge and increased retail and institutional investor interest, 2025 just may be the year we really start to see this sector of crypto take off.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

  • Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
  • Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
  • Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
  • 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
  • Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
  • The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template (4).png

Research

Wormhole Settlement allows for a highly scalable liquidity venue to fill user intents into a multichain, multi-VM future. By concentrating solvers’ balance sheets on Solana, transaction costs associated with solvers rebalancing inventory across destinations are eliminated. With the ability to settle bridging, swapping, and arbitrary interactions, without the costs and frictions of fragmenting solver liquidity, Wormhole Settlement has the opportunity to settle a large share of volumes in the crosschain interoperability market with a beneficial framework for both users and solvers. 

article-image

On Supply Shock, Asymmetric founder Dan Held discussed why Bitcoin DeFi will take market share from Solana, Ethereum and other top blockchains

article-image

Pillsbury partner Brian Montgomery said that banks are mulling how to gain exposure to crypto

article-image

The company has now acquired three Solana validator operators since its September pivot into Solana

article-image

Those hoping for an executive order, a bill draft, or a major announcement from the CFTC or SEC were disappointed

article-image

Uncertainty around the US economy’s outlook is spurring a risk-off wave

article-image

The team says they’re still building despite the massive weekend selloff