TL;DR
- Buying and selling platforms are more and more judged on infrastructure, particularly execution, liquidity, and market entry, not simply seen options like interface or charting instruments
- The Kraken API Associate Program offers API entry to spot buying and selling (640+ crypto belongings), futures buying and selling (linear and inverse contracts, excluding US CME futures), and xStocks for tokenized US equities and ETFs
- We’ve constructed 14+ years of infrastructure supporting merchants in 190+ nations and $2 trillion in 2025 transaction quantity, with 99.9% uptime for algorithmic and high-frequency methods
- This system’s fee mannequin rewards platform high quality by a long-term business association tied to accomplice buying and selling exercise
Originally, customers discover the seen layer first: the interface, charting instruments, automation options, cellular expertise, or the simplicity of getting began. These issues matter. They assist platforms stand out and win early adoption.
However over time, expectations change. As buying and selling exercise turns into extra refined, customers start to note the boundaries beneath the product. They care extra about how orders are executed, how deep liquidity is throughout risky classes, and whether or not they can entry a number of markets by the identical workflow.
At that time, the power of the product is now not outlined solely by what sits on the floor. It’s outlined by the infrastructure beneath it.
That’s the reason infrastructure turns into a strategic determination for platforms. It’s not the invisible layer beneath the product. It’s the layer that determines whether or not the product can proceed to scale with consumer expectations.
The ceiling is an infrastructure drawback, not a product drawback
For platforms serving lively merchants, infrastructure constraints often seem in three locations first: execution, liquidity, and market entry.
Execution issues as a result of efficiency impacts whether or not methods work as meant. If orders can’t attain the market shortly and reliably, even a well-designed buying and selling expertise begins to interrupt down beneath actual circumstances.
Liquidity issues as a result of it shapes execution high quality. Customers discover when bigger orders transfer the market, when fills worsen throughout volatility, or when the depth behind the order e book is just not there once they want it most.
Market entry issues as a result of merchants more and more anticipate greater than a single asset class. They don’t need fragmented workflows throughout a number of venues and disconnected APIs once they might be managing extra of their buying and selling exercise in a single place.
These aren’t product-layer issues alone. They’re infrastructure choices.
Spot and futures have been just the start
One of many clearest shifts in buying and selling immediately is that platforms are more and more anticipated to help a broader vary of markets by a single platform.
Spot and futures entry are already baseline expectations for a lot of buying and selling environments. What’s altering now could be the expectation that tokenized equities and ETFs may sit throughout the similar workflow — accessible by xStocks.
Merchants need broader market entry with out having to separate exercise throughout a number of methods, accounts, or integrations.
For platforms, that creates a brand new problem. Each market you can’t provide creates friction. Each further venue relationship provides operational complexity. And each time customers want to go away your atmosphere to entry one other market, your platform turns into much less central to how they commerce.
That is the place infrastructure stops being a backend determination and turns into a development determination.
You can not retrofit liquidity and execution high quality
Platforms can enhance interfaces, refine workflows, and construct new options over time. However liquidity depth and execution high quality aren’t issues you may merely layer on after the actual fact.
These rely available on the market infrastructure you hook up with: the resilience of the venue, the standard of its APIs, the depth of its order books, and the vary of buying and selling exercise already flowing by it.
That’s the reason the venue issues a lot. The infrastructure your platform is constructed on straight impacts the buying and selling expertise you may provide.
Kraken has spent 14+ years constructing that infrastructure. Right now, it helps merchants in additional than 190 nations, provides entry to 640+ crypto belongings, and powers over $2 trillion in 2025 transaction quantity.
Because the primary trade in Europe with 50%+ market share, that scale issues as a result of it helps the liquidity, stability, and market entry that lively buying and selling platforms more and more want.
What integrating with Kraken truly offers you
The Kraken API Associate Program is constructed for platforms that wish to broaden market entry, strengthen execution, and create a long-term fee stream reflecting the improved connectivity and added-value instruments their platform offers to customers.
By means of API integration, platforms can allow entry to:
- Spot buying and selling throughout 640+ crypto belongings
- Futures buying and selling together with linear (USD-settled) multi-collateral and inverse (coin-settled) single-collateral contracts. Be aware: US CME futures aren’t included.
- xStocks for tokenized U.S. equities and ETFs
Meaning entry to deep liquidity, high-throughput APIs, and market infrastructure constructed to help demanding buying and selling environments. Companions acquire entry to ultra-low-latency buying and selling with 99.9% uptime — efficiency ranges constructed for algorithmic and high-frequency methods.
It additionally means a less complicated path to increasing what your platform can provide with out having to construct each layer your self.
A fee mannequin that rewards platform high quality
The API Associate Program is just not solely about market entry. It’s also designed to align fee with platform high quality.
Companions can take part in a long-term business association that displays the continuing worth your platform delivers to customers by Kraken’s infrastructure throughout spot, futures, and xStocks markets.
Infrastructure is just not separate from product technique — it’s product technique
The platforms that stay related over time aren’t solely those that ship extra options. They’re those that maintain assembly rising expectations round execution, liquidity, and market entry as buying and selling exercise evolves.
That’s the reason infrastructure is just not separate from product technique. It’s a product technique.
The Kraken API Associate Program offers platforms a method to construct on confirmed buying and selling infrastructure, broaden market entry, and create a fee mannequin that scales with the buying and selling exercise they generate.
Geographic restrictions apply.
Payward Digital Options Ltd. is licensed to conduct digital asset enterprise by the Bermuda Financial Authority. Buying and selling futures, derivatives and different devices utilizing leverage entails a component of threat and is probably not appropriate for everybody. Learn Kraken Derivatives’ threat disclosure to be taught extra.
xStocks are issued by Backed Belongings (JE) Restricted (a Jersey personal restricted firm) and supplied to eligible Kraken clients by way of Payward Digital Options Ltd. (“PDSL”), an organization licensed to conduct digital asset enterprise by the Bermuda Financial Authority. xStocks aren’t, nor will they be registered with any native securities regulators. PDSL (Kraken) doesn’t present funding recommendation. Particular person buyers ought to search skilled impartial recommendation as to the suitability of any funding, together with potential tax therapy. Investing in xStocks entails a component of threat. Previous efficiency doesn’t point out future outcomes. Not out there within the U.S. or to U.S. individuals. Geo restrictions apply. Learn Kraken’s xStocks Danger Disclosure at kraken.com/authorized/xstocks in addition to the Base Prospectus and associated Remaining Phrases for xStocks at https://belongings.backed.fi/legal-documentation to be taught extra.
