Why Is Kraken Adding DEX Trading To Its Main App?
Kraken is launching onchain decentralized exchange trading through its main mobile app, giving customers access to thousands of tokens across the Solana ecosystem without requiring them to leave the exchange’s core interface.
The move brings early-stage token markets closer to Kraken’s existing customer base. Users will be able to buy DEX-based assets using USD or USDC balances, while those assets will appear alongside existing holdings inside the Kraken portfolio view. Trades will be routed through Kraken’s standard buy-and-sell interface, reducing the need for users to manage separate wallets, bridges, gas settings, or external decentralized applications.
The launch is supported by Kraken’s embedded wallet infrastructure from Privy and leading Solana DEX protocols, according to the announcement. Kraken plans to expand the DEX offering to additional blockchain ecosystems over time.
The strategy reflects a wider shift among centralized exchanges. Rather than forcing users to choose between exchange custody and direct onchain access, major platforms are integrating decentralized trading into familiar consumer products. That gives exchanges a way to capture demand for newer tokens while keeping users inside their own apps.
What Is Kraken’s “DeFi Mullet” Strategy?
Kraken described the launch as part of its broader “DeFi mullet” strategy: a clean, centralized user experience in the front, with decentralized infrastructure running in the back.
The model is designed to make onchain markets feel less technical for mainstream users. Customers interact with a familiar app and portfolio screen, while the underlying trade execution connects to decentralized tools. Kraken has already applied a similar approach with DeFi Earn, a product that taps onchain vaults while keeping the customer experience closer to a traditional exchange product.
“This is about access. Buying, holding, and selling crypto should feel simple, even when the technology behind it is powerful,” Payward Chief Data Officer and Global Head of Consumer Kamo Asatryan said. “No one should feel intimidated by bridges, gas fees, or other technical barriers to using on-chain markets.”
That framing shows how centralized platforms are trying to absorb DeFi complexity rather than leave it to users. The exchange interface becomes the entry point, while wallets, routing, liquidity, and settlement happen behind the scenes.
Investor Takeaway
Kraken’s DEX launch is less about adding another trading feature and more about defending customer activity. Centralized exchanges are trying to keep users from leaving their platforms when they want access to newer onchain assets.
How Does This Fit The CEX And DEX Competition?
DEX trading volumes peaked in mid-2025 before easing toward more normal levels in recent months. The DEX-to-CEX spot trading ratio now stands at about 13.25%, down from an all-time high of 21.75% in June 2025.
That decline does not remove the strategic pressure on centralized exchanges. Even if centralized venues still dominate spot volume, DEXs remain important because they often list assets earlier, serve more active onchain traders, and capture token launches before they become available on large exchanges.
Kraken is not alone in lowering the barrier to onchain trading. OKX, Bybit, and Binance have launched in-wallet DEX portals. Coinbase has integrated DEX trading into its main platform through aggregators such as 0x and 1inch, initially focused on Base and later adding Solana support.
Coinbase has also moved deeper into token discovery by indexing tokens during the launch process on Base and Solana before they fully graduate to onchain trading. That shows where the market is moving: exchanges want to own the user relationship earlier in the token lifecycle, before liquidity and attention move elsewhere.
What Are The Implications For Kraken’s Public Market Plans?
The DEX launch comes as Kraken’s parent company Payward continues preparing for a public listing, although no IPO date has been confirmed. The company confidentially filed its S-1 with the SEC in November 2025 and had initially targeted a first-quarter 2026 listing, before weaker market conditions led many crypto firms to pause potential offerings.
Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in May that the firm was “about 80% ready” to go public. Against that backdrop, product expansion into onchain trading can help Kraken present itself as more than a conventional centralized exchange.
For investors, the strategic question is whether Kraken can capture onchain activity without taking on the same friction and risk that users face when trading directly through wallets. Embedded wallet infrastructure, Solana DEX integrations, and portfolio-level visibility may improve usability, but they also place more responsibility on Kraken to manage routing quality, token discovery, user protection, and operational controls.
The broader market is moving in the same direction. Even conservative custodians such as BitGo and Anchorage are enabling customer access to DeFi. That suggests the divide between centralized crypto services and onchain markets is narrowing across the industry.
Kraken’s launch strengthens that trend. If users can access early-stage Solana tokens from the same app they use for centralized trading, the exchange can compete for activity that might otherwise move to wallets, aggregators, and standalone DEX interfaces. The risk is that easier access to onchain markets also brings users closer to less mature tokens, thinner liquidity, and faster-moving trading cycles.
