Overview
- Kraken rolled out Bitcoin Vault within Kraken Earn on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, as a product for long‑term bitcoin holders who want passive, BTC‑denominated rewards without leaving the exchange.
- Deposited BTC is wrapped (reported as kBTC) and deployed by DeFi infrastructure partner Veda with strategy design and risk curation by Sentora into lending protocols such as Aave, Morpho, and Tydro.
- Published terms and reporting show a variable yield initially cited between about 2.0% and up to 2.5% APY, with providers taking a 25% performance fee and quoted yields presented inclusive of that fee.
- Kraken and reporters say the vault is non‑custodial in deployment but is offered as an unregulated Payward Wallet, LLC product; users face smart‑contract, oracle/MEV, bridge and market risks plus a reported five‑day withdrawal processing period.
- The launch follows Kraken's January DeFi Earn expansion (USDC vaults that surpassed roughly $240 million AUM) and signals exchanges' move to package transparent on‑chain yield for holders as Kraken builds product ahead of a planned 2026 IPO.