Kraken to Add DAO Trading as Critics Call for ‘Moratorium’

Just over two weeks after Ethereum-powered The DAO sparked global headlines, San Francisco-based digital currency exchange operator Kraken has announced it will offer trading pairs for tokens representing voting rights in the decentralized autonomous organization.

The move comes amid continued discussion in the blockchain community about the viability of the project – the most prominent to date built on the Ethereum network – and its capacity to follow through on the aspirations of its supporters.

For example, at least one prominent developer in the Ethereum ecosystem, lead proof-of-stake researcher Vlad Zamfir, joined academic Emin Gün Sirer and Smartwallet CEO Dino Mark in issuing a call today for a temporary “moratorium” on The DAO, a release that named seven causes for concern about its structure.

Yet, against this backdrop, trading will officially launch at 12:00 UTC on Saturday, at which time Kraken will be the most prominent digital currency exchange to list trading for DAO tokens. DAO tokens, once the decentralized group officially launches this weekend, can be used by stakeholders to vote to fund projects that seek support.

The decision to offer trading services for DAO tokens is notable given that Kraken was one of the first major exchanges to begin offering support for ether, the native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum network, last August.

Other major exchanges, including Bitfinex, Coinbase and Gemini have all since followed suit and offered ether trading.

Kraken, which is in the middle of raising a Series B round of fundraising, said in statements that it decided to move forward in adding trading pairs following news it would enable its stakeholders to begin withdrawing tokens from the platform.

In total, seven trading pairs will be introduced, providing users with the ability to exchange DAO tokens for bitcoins, ethers, euros, US dollars, Canadian dollars, British pounds and Japanese yen.

Dark pool and margin trading services will not be offered as part of the new offering, the exchange said.

Emergency horn via Shutterstock

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Bitfinex, not Bitstamp, was one of several exchanges to offer ether trading pairs.