Kraken-Linked SPAC Could Target Crypto Firm Valued at Up to $10 Billion

In brief

• KRAKacquisition may find a target that’s worth as much as $10 billion.
• The goal is to align a small- or mid-cap company with the crypto exchange.
• The search comes as Kraken contemplates its own public offering.

KRAKacquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company formed in January, is searching for a target that could be worth as much as $10 billion, director Ravi Tanuku told Decrypt. The blank-check firm, sponsored by an affiliate of crypto exchange Kraken, hasn’t determined what that firm could look like, but Tanuku noted that Wall Street’s interest in firms associated with stablecoins and tokenization reached new heights last year. “The market is clearly paying up for those and starting to realize there’s big changes afoot,” he said. “In our mind, that’s a good signal to be aware of.”

SPACs are shell companies that are specifically designed to take private companies public via a reverse merger. In January, KRAKacquisition completed a $345 million public offering, marking the start of a two-year countdown for the firm to identify an acquisition target.  Tanuku underscored that the $10 billion threshold is an approximation, and KRAKacquisition’s target could ultimately be valued closer to $2 billion. Still, the range highlights the breadth of the company’s interest in helping small- and mid-cap companies explore public markets. “It’s not easy to take a company in that smaller market cap range public anymore,” he said. “We’re looking at things that are related to crypto, but also things related to stablecoins, DeFi, and all kinds of areas in payments.”

The search comes as Kraken contemplates its own public offering this year. In November, the crypto exchange said it had confidentially filed a registration statement with the SEC, not long after announcing a massive $800 million fundraising round that valued it at $20 billion. Tanuku described KRAKacquisition as a strategic investment tool for Kraken, potentially aligning another firm with the exchange economically through a reasonably significant stake. He noted that the exchange’s commitment is reflected in its willingness to lend its brand. In KRAKacquisition’s registration statement, the firm references inflation. It argues a decline in the U.S. dollar’s purchasing power has bolstered “hard assets as hedges” like Bitcoin over time.