Kraken's parent company Payward has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bitnomial, the only crypto-native firm in the United States to hold all three CFTC licenses needed to run a vertically integrated derivatives business. The deal is valued at up to $550 million. Bitnomial's regulatory footprint is what makes the acquisition notable. The company holds a Designated Contract Market (DCM) license for its exchange, a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) license for its clearinghouse, and a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) license for its brokerage arm. Building that stack independently would have taken years ... (full story)