By Hannah Lang

(Reuters) – Crypto exchange Kraken on Thursday launched a peer-to-peer payments app enabling users to send and receive funds in both cryptocurrency and fiat currency across more than a hundred countries.

The move aims to expand Kraken’s offerings beyond its digital asset trading business, putting the firm in competition with PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), Venmo, and Block’s CashApp.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Crypto exchanges like Kraken are signaling an interest in expanding outside of the digital asset trading that initially attracted retail investors. Kraken announced last month that it is set to launch tokens of U.S. equities, known as xStocks, in selected markets outside the United States.

CONTEXT

Kraken users will have a dedicated spending account and can instantly send and request payments across 300 different assets, including cryptocurrencies and local currencies, as per the company’s press release. Crypto transfers will utilize blockchain technology, while Kraken will handle cash transfers internally without relying on external banking infrastructure.

KEY QUOTE

“We’re able to move money across borders right off the bat, because that’s what we do from a trading perspective in our venues, and we’ve actually already spent over 10 years building out that system for money transmitter licenses… in all the jurisdictions,” said Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, in an interview with Reuters.

“You have to do that as an exchange anyways, and so what we realized is that our customers just wanted to do more with their money.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Kraken plans to introduce a series of products through Krak in the future, including physical and virtual cards, as well as pay-in-advance services like loans, the company reported.