Kraken integrates Solana DEX trading into core app, with support for additional networks planned

Kraken is launching onchain DEX trading on Thursday to give customers access to thousands of tokens across the Solana ecosystem through the exchange’s main mobile app. In time, Kraken plans to expand its DEX offerings to include additional ecosystems.

"By integrating DEX functionality directly into its core app, Kraken is making early-stage token markets more accessible without requiring users to leave a familiar environment or manage separate tooling," an announcement shared with The Block reads.

This launch will be supported by Kraken’s embedded wallet infrastructure from Privy, as well as "leading Solana DEX protocols." The announcement notes any DEX-based assets will "appear alongside existing assets within the Kraken portfolio view" and can be traded via Kraken’s "standard buy and sell interface."

Users will be able to purchase these DEX-based assets using their USD or USDC balances.

Total DEX trading hit a peak in mid-2025 before coming down to more historically normal volumes in recent months. The ratio between DEX and CEX spot crypto trading stands today at about 13.25%, down from an all-time high of 21.75% in June 2025, according to The Block’s data.

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Kraken is not the first centralized crypto exchange to lower the barrier to onchain DEX trading. OKX, Bybit, and Binance, for instance, have launched in-wallet DEX portals, while Coinbase last year integrated DEX trading directly into its main platform via aggregators like 0x and 1inch to access onchain assets primarily on Base, with Solana support added later.

Coinbase earlier this week announced it was more deeply integrating token launchpads on Base and Solana into the main app by indexing tokens during the creation process, before they officially “graduate” to full onchain trading.

For its part, Kraken said the move reflects its broader “DeFi mullet” strategy to build products with clean, centralized interfaces in the front powered by decentralized tools in the back, like its previously unveiled DeFi Earn offering tapping onchain vaults. The exchange has also supported the development of the Ethereum Layer 2, Ink, which has been teasing a token launch.

"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."

Similar DeFi mullet strategies are launching elsewhere, including at relatively conservative custodians like BitGo and Anchorage, which are increasingly enabling customer deployments into DeFi.

Kraken’s parent company Payward is working to go public, though there is no confirmed IPO date. The company confidentially filed its S-1 with the SEC in November 2025, initially targeting a Q1 2026 listing, though many crypto firms have put potential listings on pause, citing weak market conditions.

Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said as recently as May that the firm is "about 80% ready" to go public.