VanEck Launches NFT Platform

Hi NoRamp Community,

Daily News:

1) Kraken Preps For New Crypto Entrants With Institutional-Focused Offering

2) Bitcoin-Focused Payments App Strike Rolls Out Services to Africa

3) VanEck Launches NFT Platform

4) Stripe’s Valuation Spikes to $65B in Employee Stock-Sale Deal

5) Webull Set for Nasdaq Public Listing Via $7.3B SPAC Merger

Kraken’s New Institutional-Focused Offering:

• Crypto exchange Kraken has launched a platform targeted at institutional investors, consolidating existing offerings like spot exchange, derivatives trading, qualified custody, and indices into one place for clients under its new institutional brand.

• Kraken Institutional's full product suite, set to launch later this year, includes qualified custody services offered by Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution, in response to the US SEC's proposed requirements for safekeeping client assets with qualified custodians.

• The launch of Kraken's institutional brand aims to prepare for new entrants in the digital asset class, following Coinbase's introduction of Coinbase Prime three years ago, which offers similar services to institutions. Kraken's move reflects the growing institutional adoption of crypto and the expanding total addressable market for institutional crypto offerings.

Bitcoin-Focused Payments App Strike Rolls Out Services to Africa:

• Bitcoin-focused payments app Strike is expanding to Africa, launching Strike Africa with services in Gabon, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia, with plans for more African markets in the future.

• Strike Africa will offer customers the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether's dollar stablecoin (USDT), provide local fiat currency on-ramps and off-ramps, and enable global payments leveraging Bitcoin's Lightning network for cheap and fast transactions.

• The expansion aims to address the high demand for Bitcoin and stablecoins in developing countries with high inflation and fragile financial systems, such as Nigeria, where crypto adoption is particularly high as a hedge against local currency devaluation.

VanEck Launches NFT Platform:

• Global investment manager VanEck has launched an NFT marketplace and digital assets platform called SegMint in collaboration with various tech partners, aimed at improving accessibility and security in the digital assets space with a "Lock & Key Model" for simplified self-custodial sharing of digital assets.

• SegMint offers features such as a custom multi-sig wallet solution, NFT minting capabilities, and token-gated utility, with an initial focus on crypto-native users familiar with blockchain concepts. Early users who complete the ID verification process will receive a complimentary "Adventurer NFT" for engaging in quests and earning additional benefits.

• The platform aims to support fractional ownership of digital assets, starting with top NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins, and plans to expand services to include real-world assets like luxury items and real estate, with regulatory challenges anticipated for the latter. Access to SegMint is currently limited, excluding residents or citizens of the United States.

Stripe’s Valuation Spikes to $65B in Employee Stock-Sale Deal:

• Payments infrastructure giant Stripe has secured deals with investors for a tender offer to provide liquidity to current and former employees, valuing the company at $65 billion, a 30% increase from its $50 billion valuation in March of the previous year, but still lower than its $95 billion valuation in March 2021.

• Stripe and some of its investors agreed to purchase over $1 billion of shares from current and former employees, with the company previously stating that proceeds from its last funding round would go towards providing liquidity to employees and addressing tax obligations related to equity awards.

• While a Stripe IPO has been long anticipated and was expected in 2024, this deal suggests that an initial public offering may be delayed until the following year. The company did not name the investors in the latest deal, but Sequoia Capital Managing Partner Roelof Botha was quoted in the announcement, and Goldman Sachs's growth equity fund was cited as another backer by The Wall Street Journal.

Webull Set for Nasdaq Public Listing Via $7.3B SPAC Merger:

• Digital investment platform Webull is set to go public in the US through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) SK Growth Opportunities, valuing the combined company at $7.3 billion, with the merger expected to complete in H2 2024, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

• The combined company will retain the name "Webull Corporation" and is expected to be listed on Nasdaq under a new ticker symbol, allowing Webull to bypass the lengthy process typically incurred in going public, similar to digital mortgage lender Better.com's public listing through a SPAC merger.

• Webull's platform offers investment opportunities in global stocks, ETFs, options, and fractional shares, along with cash management services, and the company expanded into the Mexican market by acquiring investment platform Flink in November of the previous year.

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