News linked to both this project and an event.
PrimePiper has launched an enterprise-grade prime broker platform for AI agents, designed to address challenges including fragmented account management, inadequate risk control, inability to reconcile across venues, and insufficient compliance auditing in AI-driven automated trading. According to the company, its infrastructure supports unified connectivity to multiple trading venues—including Hyperliquid, OKX, Tiger Brokers, and Interactive Brokers (IBKR). For risk control, PrimePiper offers enterprise-grade API key management, spending limits, and circuit-breaker mechanisms to constrain AI agent trading behavior. At the execution layer, it enables automated strategy execution via SDK or the Model Context Protocol (MCP). For compliance and auditing, it provides audit-grade reporting capabilities tailored for funds and traders. PrimePiper has been selected for the latest cohort of Founders Inc’s accelerator program; its product is currently in the Alpha stage. Team members hail from Galois Capital, Kraken, DRW, and AWS.
the crypto advocacy groups Blockchain Association and CCI, together with over 120 industry institutions including Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, and Circle, have sent a joint letter to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, urging an accelerated review process for the CLARITY Act. The industry parties stated that the United States needs to establish a unified regulatory framework for digital asset markets, clarify regulatory responsibilities, and strengthen investor protection. They emphasized that relying solely on enforcement-based regulation cannot create a long-term stable environment. The institutions warned that prolonged policy ambiguity will lead to an outflow of capital, talent, and technology, weakening America's strategic advantages. They also called for the development of tailored federal unified regulatory rules for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and decentralized technologies.
According to CoinDesk, over 100 U.S. crypto companies and industry organizations sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee urging advancement of the Clarity Act’s consideration to establish a federal regulatory framework for digital asset markets. Signatories include Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, and Consensys. Their core demands include clarifying the regulatory division of responsibilities between the SEC and the CFTC, protecting developers of non-custodial tools, simplifying disclosure requirements, and preventing fragmentation across state-level regulatory standards. The signatories warn that without a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework in the U.S., investment, jobs, and development activity may shift overseas.
TechFlow News, April 22: According to CoinDesk, Kraken stated that it has filed 56 million cryptocurrency transaction tax forms with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the 2025 tax year. Of these, approximately 18.5 million forms report transactions under $1, 74% report amounts under $50, and only 8.5% exceed $600. Kraken noted that the absence of a de minimis exemption threshold for cryptocurrency payments—and the current treatment of staking rewards as ordinary income upon receipt—are imposing a significant reporting burden on investors. Kraken is urging the U.S. Congress to enact broader, inflation-indexed de minimis exemption rules and to allow taxpayers to elect whether staking rewards are taxed upon receipt or upon sale.
On-chain investigator ZachXBT questioned Kraken’s due diligence process for listing $M (Memecore) spot trading on July 3, 2025, noting that approximately 7.9 million $M were withdrawn from Kraken to 18 newly created addresses; these addresses collectively now hold roughly 11.7 million $M—valued at approximately $39.8 million at current prices. He also stated that addresses suspected to belong to the Memecore team received 200 million $M during the token generation event (TGE) and transferred 5.3 million $M to Kraken’s deposit address on July 3, 2025.
According to CoinDesk, Payward, Kraken’s parent company, announced the acquisition of digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million in cash and stock. The deal values Payward at approximately $20 billion. Bitnomial is the first crypto-native platform in the U.S. to hold all three key regulatory licenses: a Designated Contract Market (DCM), a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO), and a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM). Following the acquisition, Payward will instantly obtain all regulatory authorizations required to operate a full derivatives business in the U.S., significantly accelerating its path to compliance compared to building such capabilities organically. Post-integration, the combined platforms will launch spot margin, perpetual futures, and options products for U.S. customers. Through Payward Services’ B2B infrastructure, these regulated U.S. derivatives offerings will be made available to banks, fintech firms, and brokers via a single API. This acquisition marks Payward’s second major deal following its $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader in 2025. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Börse has invested $200 million in Payward Inc., the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. This transaction will grant Deutsche Börse a fully diluted 1.5% stake in the company. The investment aims to advance Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s provision of broader securities services via blockchain technology and is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to regulatory approval. Previously, Kraken was valued at $20 billion in a share sale in November 2025.
According to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken was extorted by a criminal group that threatened to publicly release videos of its internal systems. Kraken stated that it had previously identified and addressed two incidents involving unauthorized access by internal personnel, affecting limited customer data from approximately 2,000 accounts—0.02% of its total user base—but emphasized that its systems were never breached and customer funds remained secure at all times. Nick Percoco, Kraken’s Chief Security Officer, explicitly affirmed the company would not capitulate to criminals. Kraken has notified affected users, enhanced security controls, and is cooperating with law enforcement authorities to advance the investigation; it believes existing evidence is sufficient to identify and apprehend those responsible. Separately, Galaxy Digital recently experienced a similar cybersecurity incident, though it likewise resulted in no loss of customer funds or data.
According to Reuters, Kraken has become the first cryptocurrency exchange approved for a Federal Reserve master account. However, the account is restricted: it only permits Kraken’s banking operations to access the Fedwire payment system and hold limited balances—earning no interest and ineligible for emergency lending. This move has raised concerns in the U.S. financial system regarding risk and transparency, including a call from Maxine Waters, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, for greater disclosure of account details. Regulatory experts warn that lightly regulated crypto firms gaining direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment system could pose operational and financial stability risks. The Federal Reserve stated that these restrictions are intended to mitigate liquidity shocks and credit risk; however, banks caution that they may impair banking system liquidity and exacerbate money laundering and operational vulnerabilities. Kraken says its bank reserves are fully backed and that it complies with bank-level anti-money laundering (AML) and customer identification requirements.