Kraken's parent company, Payward, is buying a bank in Lithuania as it tries to expand beyond crypto.

The company is acquiring Saldo Bank, an EU-regulated bank, to offer services like loans and payment cards.

The idea is to bring cash, crypto, tokenised stocks and credit into one system. For example, customers could borrow money against their crypto without having to sell it.

And this is not the only crypto company moving into banking. Coinbase and Ripple are also trying to expand their financial services in the US.

Traditional banks are not happy about this, arguing that crypto companies could offer similar services without facing the same regulations.

The deal still needs regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2027.

Honestly, I think this is an interesting development. Crypto exchanges are no longer satisfied with just letting people buy and sell crypto. They want to compete directly with traditional banks. And if they can offer better services and make things easier for customers, traditional banks could have a serious problem.