Leading global Bitcoin exchange Kraken finalized its acquisition of yet another Bitcoin company in Cryptowatch this week, to offer a variety of advanced and high-performance tools for the company’s international user base.

Over the past two years, Kraken has transformed itself into a global Bitcoin powerhouse, establishing its strong presence in both the US and European Bitcoin markets. Kraken is the largest Bitcoin exchange in the European Bitcoin exchange market with over 46 percent market share and is also a strong contender in the US market, with around three percent market share.

To serve its global user base, expand its service into the US market and optimize platform efficiency, Kraken acquired various Bitcoin exchanges including Chicago-based non-custodial Bitcoin buying and selling service Glidera and Dutch Bitcoin exchange CleverCoin in the past.

The integration of Cryptowatch

Kraken’s most recent acquisition of Cryptowatch is slightly different to the company’s past acquisitions, as it is the company’s first acquisition of a Bitcoin data service provider.

In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell explained that the integration of Cryptowatch is important for Kraken as it allows both beginner and advanced users to benefit from a custom-designed visualization platform for their trading needs.

Powell told Cointelegraph:

“We acquired a market data company that has developed great charting tools and a fantastic trading interface. Market data, charting tools and trade interface are essential elements of a good exchange. So the technology and insight Cryptowatch brings to the table is a natural fit for our core exchange business.”

One of the key strategies the Kraken team aimed to implement by integrating Cryptowatch into its trading platform was to meet the demands and the needs of its rapidly evolving user base. As the exchange started to grow in size and the levels of traders varied significantly, the Kraken development team firmly believed that it needed to offer unique yet reliable service to serve its sizable user base.

In fact, Powell told Cointelegraph that consistent improvements of its trading platform and recognizing the needs of the company’s clients have been the two key factors behind the explosive and exponential growth of Kraken as an exchange.

Newly improved trading platform

It was with this vision that Kraken very recently launched a newly improved trading platform with significant advancements in its user interface and operations.

“Addressing the varied and evolving needs of Kraken clients by giving them the tools and resources they need has been key to retaining clients and attracting new ones,” said Powell.

With Cryptowatch embedded into the trading platform of Kraken, Cryptowatch founder Artur Sapek plans on continuing collaborating with Kraken to ensure the trading platform constantly delivers the best trading software in the global Bitcoin industry.

In its official press release, Kraken also announced that Sapek will join the Kraken team as the development lead of Kraken’s interface.

“In just two years Cryptowatch grew into one of the pillars of the digital asset trading community. Teaming up with an exchange was the natural next step and Kraken was my first choice. The Kraken team has built a very mature and reliable exchange and I look forward to working with them to deliver the best trading software in the industry,” said Sapek.

Full Interview:

Joseph Young: Over the past few years, Kraken has transformed into a global trading platform for both average and high profile traders. Does the integration of Cryptowatch benefit regular traders? Or is it more for advanced trading?

Jesse Powell: By offering more customizable features through the Cryptowatch platform, both beginner and advanced traders will benefit by being able to tailor the experience to fit their respective trading needs.

JY: Traders often look for visualization tools due to the unpredictability of Bitcoin price. How will Cryptowatch help users make better decisions?

JP: Kraken is utilizing the central interface that grew to be so popular among Cryptowatch users, which offers the visualization tools traders need to take advantage of changing market conditions.

JY: The Bitcoin community hasn't seen many exchanges acquiring data companies. Why did Kraken decide to acquire a data company in Cryptowatch and is this the direction Kraken wants to go? Also, do you think the acquisition of companies like Cryptowatch plays a factor in international expansion?

JP: We acquired a market data company that has developed great charting tools and a fantastic trading interface. Market data, charting tools and trade interface are essential elements of a good exchange. So the technology and insight Cryptowatch brings to the table is a natural fit for our core exchange business.

JY: Lastly, I’d really love to learn a little bit of the user growth of Kraken. It seems like Kraken is trying to provide a wide range of features to users to ensure Kraken's rapidly growing user base can benefit from a variety of services. Is this a fair assessment?

JP: Absolutely. Addressing the varied and evolving needs of Kraken clients by giving them the tools and resources they need has been key to retaining clients and attracting new ones.