Kraken.com, a San Francisco-based bitcoin exchange, is pleased to announce its partnership with PayCash, a Luxembourg-based leader in innovative EU-focused payment solutions. The partnership will allow Kraken to provide both US dollar (USD) and British pound (GBP) funding to its customers.

Kraken clients in the 28 EU member states will have initial access to USD and GBP funding with availability for additional countries planned at a later date. As part of Kraken’s strategic roadmap, support for other EU and Asian currencies, along with wider global coverage, is planned for the future. These new funding options coincide with the launch of bitcoin-pound (XBT/GBP) trading on Kraken. Bitcoin-dollar (XBT/USD) trading is already available on the exchange. Kraken is the only major exchange to offer a dedicated XBT/GBP order book.

This marks an important milestone in integrating bitcoin into the global financial infrastructure, as London is one of the world’s leading financial hubs. London now has the appropriate trading platform to support its banks, hedge funds and other institutional investors that are interested in trading bit coin. Although trading between bitcoin and USD is already available on Kraken, USD deposits have been disabled since February 2014 after it became apparent that Kraken’s former USD banking partner wasn’t capable of handling the volume Kraken required.

“Our clients have asked about this since we stopped servicing USD, and we are proud to say we are making good on an old promise,” said Kraken CEO Jesse Powell. “We have spent eight months looking for a strong partner, one with compliance capabilities, regulatory oversight, payments expertise and a technology focus. We have now found the right partner in PayCash.”

The PayCash partnership allows Kraken to leverage its success with the euro market and bring its signature exchange experience back to the USD market, which has traditionally been the most popular market for trading bitcoin. Kraken became the largest bitcoin-euro (XBT/EUR) exchange only 5 months after its launch in September 2013.

The partnership was formed very thoughtfully, with complete transparency and commitment to regulatory compliance. PayCash operates under the regulatory oversight of Luxembourg’s CSSF. Kraken operates under a clearance letter from the UK FCA and an agency agreement with Fidor Bank AG.

Entering into a partnership with a Luxembourg-based financial institution was an obvious choice for Kraken. “The Luxembourg financial center ecosystem is a very favourable one for companies like ours with knowledgeable talent available, efficient banking, and an exceptional level of high speed communication infrastructure and TIER IV hosting facilities,” said PayCash CEO Dr. Jürgen Wolff.

The strong partnership between Kraken and PayCash means an industry-leading level of operational consistency, confidence and security for Kraken clients. “Weak banking relationships have unfortunately led to problems for other exchanges where their banking partners close the account without warning,” said Powell. “When you build the kind of solid relationship we have with PayCash, the conflicts are naturally going to be less prevalent.”