Kraken, a nearly $3 billion cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it has moved its headquarters to Cheyenne. The CEO told Cowboy State Daily they picked Wyoming because of its commitment to individual liberty, regulatory clarity and innovation.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
By Ren\u00e9e Jean<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kraken, a nearly $3 billion cryptocurrency exchange, announced that it has moved its headquarters to Cheyenne, Wyoming, after the company left California nearly three years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The company is valued at $2.9 billion with a secondary valuation, which is a measure of total stocks being traded, of $5.9 billion, according to a financial profile by Trueup, a tech job board that rates all the top tech companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Former state representative Tyler Lindholm, who was among the architects of Wyoming\u2019s digital asset framework, told Cowboy State Daily he believes Kraken is now the largest company with a headquarters in Wyoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s a big deal,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s bigger than any and all mining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lindholm is very familiar with the company, and told Cowboy State Daily his sense of the move is that the company is looking for an environment that will be safer for its employees, where it can also unleash growth as the company prepares to go public in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is why this company chose Wyoming,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause they\u2019re looking for that next opportunity to be able to really unleash themselves and explore opportunities. And it comes down to, not the fact that Wyoming is a deregulated space or anything like that. It comes down to the fact there\u2019s more (digital) consumer protections in the state of Wyoming than any other state in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trevor Rutar, CEO of Kraken Financial, told Cowboy State Daily the company picked Wyoming because of its commitment to individual liberty, regulatory clarity and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe state shares crypto\u2019s values \u2014 autonomy, freedom of thought, and economic choice \u2014 and has shown real leadership in embracing new technologies,\u201d Rutar told Cowboy State Daily in an email. \u201cStates are the laboratories of democracy, and Wyoming has proven how quickly and effectively they can lead. Crypto, like capital, flows to where it\u2019s treated best \u2014 and Wyoming is earning that reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rutar said Wyoming\u2019s efforts to release a stable token weren\u2019t a factor in the decision to relocate, other than from the standpoint it represented Wyoming\u2019s willingness to think outside the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe admire that Wyoming continues to explore innovative approaches in finance and technology,\u201d he said. \u201cIt reflects the state\u2019s broader willingness to lead and experiment in shaping the future of digital assets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The beauty of Wyoming isn\u2019t lost on the company\u2019s decision makers either, though, Rutar added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see it every time I bring someone here,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re struck by the wind (sometimes literally), the wide-open beauty, the warm, easygoing nature of people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Cowboy Code \u2014 integrity, hard work, and independence, \u2014 goes beyond borders and defines the spirit of the state,\u201d he continued. \u201cWyoming may be small in size, but it consistently punches above its weight in the crypto world. Its early embrace of digital assets and bold regulatory leadership show that it\u2019s a place where innovation thrives and freedom to build is more than just an idea \u2014 it\u2019s a way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wyoming\u2019s regulatory environment is one of the first things Kraken mentioned in a blog post announcing its decision to move to Wyoming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2016, Wyoming has passed more than 40 laws in the digital asset space in a bid to create a regulatory framework that allows cryptocurrency and other digital asset companies to innovate and includes strong consumer protection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those laws included the Special Purpose Depository Institutions, often pronounced \u201cspeedy\u201d banks for the acronym SPDI, which can hold digital assets for customers the way banks hold money for their customers, as well as conduct other banking activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kraken was Wyoming\u2019s first SPDI, though, like Caitlin Long\u2019s Custodia Bank, which is also an SPDI, it has yet to receive a master account from the Federal Reserve. A master account is a bank account for banks, which allows them to access Federal Reserve services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s despite Wyoming holding more than 100 meetings with the Kansas City Federal Reserve to iron out a framework pleasing to regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Long brought Kraken to Wyoming in 2018 for a visit, hoping to eventually attract them to Wyoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019ve had a presence here since 2020, maybe even earlier than that,\u201d Long said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been here the whole time, investing in the community. They\u2019ve been a sponsor of Cheyenne Frontier Days, and they have obviously continued to support the University of Wyoming Blockchain Center and WyoHackathon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Long said she doesn\u2019t know what exactly prompted the decision, but said they\u2019ve been a great corporate citizen so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was hoping they\u2019d make the final decision to get out of California and come here,\u201d Long said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m really excited they\u2019ve made the decision to do this. It\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Powell, Long noted, was one of the early, very public donors to Donald Trump\u2019s presidential campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith the SEC going after them, they got caught up in a different way than we did in the whole Biden administration attempt to kill this industry,\u201d Long said. \u201cAnd they were taking on the SEC while we were taking on the Fed. All of the companies in the industry have been kind of doing the work with each other, trying to fix the regulations, and every one of us was being sued, or in a position where we had to sue, because it was an all-of-government attempt to kill the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Daniel Singh, R-Cheyenne, told Cowboy State Daily efforts to craft Wyoming\u2019s digital asset framework will continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He sees it as an effort to make Wyoming one of the most business-friendly places in the nation for digital asset companies to do business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven like our delegation in the Senate with Cynthia Lummis, she is also backing just the idea that we should be free to have a well-maintained system of trade with digital assets,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd her help is huge and it kind of sheds light on the idea that here in Wyoming we are both innovative and industrial.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s been true for decades, Singh added, and that pioneering spirit not only continues to this day but it\u2019s attracting the world to Wyoming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of room for new ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd thankfully we\u2019re working with partners from really all across the world to try to build the best system. Europe, the Middle East, those folks will come to Wyoming and testify to us, and then we\u2019re able to connect with them and meet with them and hear what\u2019s going on in Europe, for example. We just talked to some folks from Gibraltar who were talking to us about how they want to leave Europe and relocate to somewhere that\u2019s more business friendly, and they\u2019re looking at Wyoming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gibraltar is a British overseas territory on the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Singh said they\u2019ve been impressed so far that Wyoming\u2019s framework isn\u2019t following the latest buzzword but is really diving deep to understand this emerging sector, and craft something that will make sense for those who want to play in the space in a law-abiding way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Singh said he believes Wyoming\u2019s accessibility is probably what primarily attracted Kraken and may well attract others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur government is really accessible,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing in a smaller state allows for, if there are insights from the industry, to be able to help guide the policy makers as we correct the ship. This is an innovative process and we\u2019re ahead of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wyoming’s crypto friendliness is shining. And worth noting, we only have about 587,618 citizens, so state politics are a little more immune to the big power players nationally, with the exception of federal offices and the governor. So smaller players can work with legislators and aren’t locked out by the huge megacorps, especially the financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-wyoming"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12471,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12470\/revisions\/12471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"CEO](\"https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.imgix.net\/CEO-and-Kraken-mural-Idler-6.23.25.jpg?ixlib=js-3.8.0&q=75&auto=format%2Ccompress\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u2018Regulatory Clarity\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Crypto-Friendly Environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Framework Building<\/h2>\n\n\n\n