Kraken has rolled out a new product called Bitcoin Vault, letting long-term bitcoin holders in the US earn up to 2.5% annual percentage yield on idle BTC without selling or forfeiting price exposure. The exchange announced the launch this week, positioning the vault as part of its broader Earn suite alongside existing decentralized finance offerings.
How Bitcoin Vault works
The product targets users who want to put their bitcoin to work without moving it off the exchange or into riskier yield protocols. Kraken says holders earn yield directly on their BTC balance — no staking, no wrapping, no locking tokens into third-party contracts. The 2.5% APY figure is a headline rate, though the company didn't specify whether it's fixed or variable, or what conditions apply.
Part of Kraken's Earn lineup
Bitcoin Vault joins Kraken's existing suite of yield-bearing products, which already included DeFi-based options. The new vault is distinct because it focuses purely on bitcoin and doesn't require users to navigate complex decentralized apps. For Kraken, it's a way to keep long-term hodlers engaged on the platform while competing with other exchanges that offer similar yield products for BTC.
The product is available to US customers now. That's notable because many crypto yield products have faced regulatory headwinds in the US, with the SEC cracking down on staking and lending programs. Kraken itself settled with the SEC over its staking service in 2023. With Bitcoin Vault, the exchange is offering a yield product that doesn't involve proof-of-stake or token lending — a structure that may face less regulatory friction. Whether that calculus holds depends on how regulators view the vault's mechanics, which Kraken hasn't fully detailed.
