Kraken’s banking unit has secured a limited-purpose master account from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, granting the crypto exchange direct access to the US central bank’s Fedwire payments system.
The approval allows Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-based banking arm of the exchange’s parent company Payward Financial, to move money on the same payment rails used by banks and credit unions.
“With a Federal Reserve master account, we can operate not as a peripheral participant in the US banking system, but as a directly connected financial institution,”
Said Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi.
The decision marks a milestone for the US crypto industry, although the account does not grant full banking privileges such as earning interest on reserves held at the Federal Reserve.
According to the Kansas City Fed, the approval gives Kraken Financial limited-purpose access for an initial one-year term as a “Tier 3 entity,” with restrictions tailored to its business model and risk profile.
Journalist Eleanor Terrett described the move as a “historic shift” for the industry, suggesting it reflects a softer regulatory stance from the Federal Reserve toward crypto firms.
The limited access resembles the “skinny” master account model proposed by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller in 2025, which would allow the central bank to tailor services based on a firm’s risk profile.