Kraken Unveils Debit Card and 10% Yield Vaults for UK and EU Users
What Did Kraken Announce—and Why Now?
Kraken, one of the industry’s oldest crypto platforms, is pushing deeper into consumer finance with the launch of a new Mastercard debit card for users in the UK and Europe. The “Krak Card,” integrated directly into Kraken’s mobile app, offers up to 1% cash-back on purchases, paid in either cash or BTC, with no foreign-platform or monthly fees.
The rollout coincides with an expansion of Kraken’s Vaults feature, which lets users earn up to 10% yield on selected assets through decentralised finance (DeFi) integrations. Together, the card, high-yield tools, and new salary-deposit functionality signal a strategic shift: Kraken wants to be not just a trading platform, but a multi-service financial app.
Investor Takeaway
Why Are Crypto platforms Pivoting to Full-Service Finance?
Kraken’s announcement arrives amid a broader industry-wide pivot. As and regulatory pressures reshape platform business models, crypto companies are accelerating efforts to diversify revenue and deepen user stickiness. The strategy mirrors moves already made by Coinbase, Crypto.com, and fintech platforms such as Revolut, PayPal, and Robinhood.
Coinbase has long offered a debit card and is openly and prediction markets—an expansion that would position it as a hybrid broker–platform. Crypto.com has taken a similar route, pairing its Visa card with new investment products. Meanwhile, has argued that tokenisation will ultimately “eat the entire financial system,” signaling that stock brokers increasingly view blockchain-native platforms as long-term competitors.
The common goal: build a single app where users can trade, save, spend, transfer, invest across asset classes, and interact with tokenised markets. Kraken’s card, salary deposits, and Vaults slot directly into this thesis.
How Competitive Is the Neobank Race Becoming?
The competitive backdrop is increasingly fierce. Crypto-first firms believe their native familiarity with digital assets gives them a long-term advantage over traditional fintech players. They argue that modern consumers want frictionless, asset-agnostic accounts—where crypto, fiat, stablecoins, and tokenised assets function interchangeably as spendable value.
Mark Greenberg, Kraken’s global head of consumer, framed the launch around this philosophy: “Everything is money. You should be able to use whatever assets you hold to pay for everyday excellents and services.” By embedding this approach directly into payments infrastructure , Kraken is betting that everyday usability—not just speculation—will define the next stage of crypto adoption.
The Krak Card supports more than 400 crypto and fiat assets and allows users to prioritise or exclude certain holdings during spending. Combined with salary deposit functionality, Kraken is attempting to position its app as the central hub for personal finance—similar to how Revolut or N26 built their ecosystems, but with crypto as a native layer.
Investor Takeaway
What’s Next for Kraken—and for Crypto as Everyday Money?
Kraken is also leaning into the yield-generation space, though details remain limited. Vaults enable users to choose their preferred risk level in DeFi strategies, potentially unlocking returns that surpass traditional savings accounts. However, this comes with well-known hazards, including smart-contract vulnerabilities and liquidity mismatches. Kraken has not disclosed the underlying protocols powering the 10% yield ceiling.
From a product roadmap standpoint, the firm says additional markets will be added shortly later than the initial UK and EU launch. Salary deposits are expected to become a cornerstone feature, allowing users to receive income directly into the Krak app, then allocate it across spending, saving, and yield strategies.
The race now hinges on who can balance usability, compliance, and transparency while building a universal financial interface. With 450,000 current users on its app, Kraken is attempting to scale a model where crypto assets function alongside fiat in everyday transactions—something regulators will watch closely as more platforms push into payments and banking-like services.
As crypto platforms mature into fintech ecosystems, the line between platform, bank, and investment app continues to blur. Kraken’s latest launch underscores how quick the convergence is accelerating.
