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Kraken Clients Stake $725M of FLOW Tokens, Buying Into NFT Frenzy

The surge in staking activity – similar to depositing money in an interest-bearing account – reflects the broader NFT frenzy.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:25 p.m. Published Mar 12, 2021, 5:01 p.m.
Kraken co-founder and CEO Jesse Powell
Kraken co-founder and CEO Jesse Powell

Kraken, a San Francisco based cryptocurrency exchange, said clients have staked nearly $725 million worth of the digital token FLOW as a growing number of investors look to capitalize on increasing demand for non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It did not detail how many of its clients are involved.

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The surge in staking activity – similar to depositing money in an interest-bearing account – reflects the broader NFT frenzy, fueling soaring prices for other tokens such as Enjin and Rarible, which raised $1.7 million in seed funds from Coinbase Ventures in February.

  • FLOW tokens are used as a form of payment for applications built atop the Dapper Labs-backed Flow blockchain, including the NBA Top Shot digital collectibles platform.
  • Month-to-month NFT sales continue to surge, with February volumes alone hitting a record of $342 million, according to Kraken's press release.
  • FLOW has become a key avenue for investors to gain exposure to the white-hot NFT space,” said Jeremy Welch, VP of Product at Kraken.
  • Nearly $50 million worth of FLOW was traded on Kraken on a single day this week, according to the company’s press release.
  • Prices for FLOW tokens have quadrupled this year, for a market capitalization of nearly $1 billion.
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Read More: Soaring Prices for Enjin, FLOW and Rarible Reveal Risks of ‘NFT Marketplace’ Tokens

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