Kraken Futures turns to new hire to attract new investors

Kraken Futures, Kraken's crypto derivatives platform, recently made a new hire in the form of former over-the-counter (OTC) B2C2 managing director Kevin Beardsley. Part of his job will be to make the firm stand out and entice big investors by using rebates, The Block reports.

Based in London, Kraken Futures was previously known as Crypto Facilities, which was acquired by cryptocurrency exchange Kraken in a nine-figure deal earlier this year. Since the acquisition, trading volumes have soared by $1 billion to $2.5 billion, a company spokeswoman said.

In his new role, Beardsley will lead business development for the derivatives platform, with the goal of cementing its presence in the UK. He believes that the unit's unique fee structure and trading infrastructure will help it stay ahead of the curve.

He noted that the firm offers rebates to traders, which is equal to 30 percent of what it is charging for the process of trading. In fact, Kraken has said that some of its most active traders have received as much as $200,000 in certain weeks.

This is what Beardsley is planning to lean on in order to bring new investors to the platform.

“What I really like about Kraken is that it is a crypto native business, so it is from the ground up built on crypto infrastructure,” Beardsley said before adding, “If you want to custody bitcoin and manage the balance of bitcoin there is quite a lot of technical infrastructure that has to be built from the ground up to make sure that it is done accurately and more importantly securely.”

Following his tenure at B2C2, Beardsley led business development at digital asset investment firm Elwood Asset Management. He believes that his extensive experience in this industry will help him to ultimately achieve the firm’s goals.

“Having worked across a wide range of market participants, I have a pretty good understanding of what people are looking for and how to meet those needs. I can say with confidence that Kraken Futures has the best quality product, and I am excited for what lies ahead,” he said.

Last month, Kraken raised over $13 million in funding, which it plans to use to provide additional financial services and products for the cryptocurrency industry.