The interface allows ICE Chat users immediate access to the exchange’s OTC crypto liquidity, incorporating digital asset trading within established institutional workflows.
Kraken, a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, has linked its over-the-counter desk to Intercontinental Exchange’s ICE Chat. This lets institutional traders access Kraken’s crypto liquidity directly through a chat platform that is extensively used in financial markets throughout the world.
ICE Chat connects around 120,000 people in the market, including as banks, brokers, and trading desks that use the system to negotiate and carry out deals in real time. The integration lets such clients talk directly to Kraken’s OTC desk without changing their current trading processes.
Kraken claims to be the first cryptocurrency platform to receive permission to link to ICE Chat. This means that its crypto liquidity may be traded alongside traditional asset classes using proven institutional communications infrastructure.
The businesses also said that they plan to make the integration bigger over time. This is part of a larger push to make digital asset trading a part of traditional financial market processes.
Kraken‘s OTC desk streamlines the process of trading large blocks of bitcoin in both the spot and options markets. Intercontinental Exchange, which runs ICE Chat and controls the New York Stock Exchange, offers technology, data, and clearing services to financial markets around the world.
The move comes after Kraken promised on Monday to back US President Donald Trump’s “Trump Accounts,” a savings plan for people under 18.
ICE deepens involvement in crypto infrastructure
Intercontinental Exchange has increased its involvement in digital asset markets over the past year. It has expanded beyond the typical exchange infrastructure to encompass blockchain data, prediction markets, and crypto payments.
ICE collaborated with Chainlink, a blockchain oracle provider, to publish foreign exchange and precious metals data on the blockchain. The partnership unites Chainlink’s Data Streams with ICE’s Consolidated Feed, which aggregates pricing data from more than 300 exchanges and marketplaces worldwide.
ICE put $2 billion into the crypto-based prediction market Polymarket in October, bringing the company’s total value to $9 billion after the investment. In December, ICE started talking about backing MoonPay, a crypto payments firm, in its latest funding round. The company is apparently looking for a $5 billion valuation, but ICE did not say how much it might contribute.
Traditional exchanges move toward tokenised markets
Recently, both the NYSE and Nasdaq have been getting involved in crypto, especially with the tokenisation of stocks.
Nasdaq asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission in September to let them list tokenised stocks via a proposed rule change.
The NYSE said in January that it would build a 24/7 trading platform for tokenised stocks and ETFs. This platform would use the exchange’s Pillar matching engine and blockchain-based post-trade settlement services, but only if regulators agree.