Kraken’s revenue surged significantly in 2024, reaching $1.5 billion—an increase of 128% year over year.

The US-based crypto exchange’s financial success aligns with a broader market upswing, which saw Bitcoin and other digital assets reach new all-time highs.

Kraken’s Trading Volume Hits $665 Billion

In 2024, the platform reported $380 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), fueled by $665 billion in trading volume.

On average, Kraken generated over $2,000 per customer while holding approximately $42.8 billion in assets. The platform also managed 2.5 million funded accounts, becoming the fifth-largest centralized exchange in terms of daily trading volume.

Kraken attributes its success to a long-term growth strategy rather than short-term market trends. This focus has helped it dominate the stable-to-fiat on-ramp sector. The exchange managed over 40% of the global stable-fiat volume among major centralized exchanges.

The company also emphasized its commitment to seamless execution, reporting 2.5 billion trades since inception, 99.9% platform uptime, and sub-2ms round-trip latency.

Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi reaffirmed the firm’s commitment to transparency while announcing plans to release quarterly financial reports that would include the exchange of proof-of-reserves disclosures.

“Today’s financial highlights are the first of many as we continue to prioritize transparency and accountability. We remain committed to publishing our Proof of Reserves regularly, ensuring our clients’ highest level of trust,” Sethi added.

While speculation about a 2025 initial public offering (IPO) continues, Kraken has not confirmed any plans. Instead, the firm stated that it maintains financial independence, having raised only $27 million in primary funding since its launch in 2011.

Regulatory Hurdles Persist

Despite its strong financial performance, Kraken continues to face significant regulatory hurdles in the US.

The exchange settled with the SEC in 2023 over its staking services, leading to the suspension of the product. However, it reintroduced staking for users in 39 states earlier this week while announcing to shut down its NFT marketplace in February.

Meanwhile, Kraken remains entangled in an SEC lawsuit, which alleges it has been operating as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency. The regulator claims Kraken facilitated unlawful crypto securities transactions since 2018, generating significant revenue.

However, a recent court ruling allowed the exchange to proceed with its “fair notice” and “due process” defenses, though its “major questions doctrine” argument was dismissed.

XRP price has been down more than 3% in the last 24 hours as momentum shows signs of slowing. While RSI has dropped below 40, indicating weakening strength, whale activity has remained stagnant, suggesting that large holders are not yet accumulating.

Additionally, EMA lines are nearing a potential death cross, which could lead to further downside if selling pressure increases. However, if XRP breaks key resistance levels and reclaims strong bullish momentum, it could set up for a rally toward $4 in February.

XRP RSI Is Currently Neutral, Below 40

XRP RSI is currently at 39.5, having remained in a neutral range since January 28, when it peaked at 58. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum indicator that measures the strength of price movements on a scale from 0 to 100.

Readings above 70 indicate overbought conditions, often leading to a pullback, while levels below 30 suggest oversold conditions, where a rebound may be likely. A neutral RSI between 40 and 60 signals consolidation, where neither buyers nor sellers have clear dominance.

With XRP’s RSI nearing the oversold zone, it suggests weak momentum, which could lead to further downside if buying pressure does not increase.

However, for the XRP price to approach $4 in the coming weeks, the RSI would need to move back above 50, signaling renewed strength. That could happen with more positive developments around its ETF, or with a confirmed withdrawal of the SEC lawsuit.

A breakout above 60 would confirm bullish momentum, while a move past 70 could indicate an overheated rally. If RSI remains weak, XRP may struggle to maintain its current levels and could face further consolidation.

XRP Whales Are Moving Sideways Since January 21

The number of XRP whale addresses – those holding between 1 million and 10 million XRP – has remained stagnant since January 21. It has been fluctuating between 2,095 and 2,082, with the latest count at 2,083.

Tracking these large holders is crucial because whale accumulation often precedes strong price moves, as their buying or selling activity can significantly impact market liquidity and sentiment.

A rise in whale addresses suggests increasing confidence from large investors, while a decline may indicate reduced conviction or profit-taking.

For XRP price to reclaim $4 in February, whale accumulation would likely need to resume its upward trend, similar to early January, when the number of whales surged from 1,981 on January 4 to 2,080 on January 16. During that period, XRP’s price jumped from $2.41 to $3.4, marking a 41% increase.

If a similar pattern of accumulation occurs, it could signal renewed demand and fuel another rally. However, if the number of whales continues moving sideways, XRP price may struggle to gain the necessary momentum for a sustained breakout.

XRP Price Prediction: Can XRP Hit $4 In February?

XRP’s EMA lines indicate that a death cross could form soon, signaling potential downside momentum. If this bearish crossover happens, the XRP price may test support at $2.82. If that level fails, further declines toward $2.6 and $2.32 could follow.

In a more extreme scenario, if selling pressure remains strong and these supports are lost, XRP could drop as low as $1.99, marking its lowest level in 2025.

On the other hand, if XRP price tests and breaks the $3.03 resistance, it could regain bullish momentum and push toward $3.28 and $3.4.

A breakout above these levels could allow XRP price to test $4, representing a potential 33.3% upside from current levels.

A Coinbase user has reportedly lost 110 cbBTC, valued at $11.5 million. The loss occurred after the user fell victim to a social engineering scam on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network backed by the exchange.

On January 31, blockchain investigator ZachXBT uncovered the exploit, linking it to a broader pattern of fraud affecting Coinbase users.

ZachXBT Exposes $150 Million Stolen in Growing Coinbase Fraud Crisis

According to ZachXBT, the stolen cbBTC—Coinbase’s wrapped Bitcoin product—was swiftly laundered across multiple instant exchanges. The attacker swapped, bridged, and moved the funds through various platforms before consolidating them with other stolen assets on Ethereum. These actions make recovery nearly impossible.

The investigator pointed out that this incident is part of a growing trend, with multiple Coinbase users suffering similar losses. He estimates that scams of this nature have drained at least $150 million from Coinbase customers.

“Coinbase has a serious fraud problem. I just uncovered many more recent thefts from Coinbase users. The $150 million stolen from Coinbase users in a year is just from thefts I independently confirmed. So it’s more than likely multiples of this number,” ZachXBT stated.

Coinbase has not yet commented on the latest exploit. However, scams involving fraudsters impersonating Coinbase support have become increasingly common.

These attackers use phishing emails, spoofed calls, and other deceptive tactics to trick victims into revealing private keys or login credentials. Once they gain access, they drain wallets, move funds, and take control of accounts.

Last December, a Coinbase Commerce vendor lost $15.9 million with no intervention from the exchange’s anti-money laundering (AML) system. Before that, an imposter stole $6.5 million in October 2024 using a phishing scheme while pretending to be part of Coinbase’s support team.

“I receive inbounds every week from Coinbase users falling for targeted social engineering scams which result in millions of dollars of losses each month. Coinbase does not help the victims and no other major exchange has this same issue. The leadership is completely out of touch with actual threats and cites obscure internal policies to abscond itself of any responsibility even when it’s the right thing to do,” ZachXBT wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

These incidents highlight growing security concerns for Coinbase users. As the largest crypto exchange in the US, the company faces increasing pressure to improve fraud detection and safeguard its customers from sophisticated cyber threats.

If these scams continue unchecked, they could further erode trust in centralized exchanges and highlight the urgent need for improved security protocols.