Kraken to host token sales through Legion on its new Launch platform

Crypto exchange Kraken has partnered with initial coin offering (ICO) platform Legion to host token sales on its new Kraken Launch platform, with Legion aiming to reach a wider user base through the tie-up.

Legion, backed by investors including Kraken, will now share select “highest-profile” token sales with the exchange, the firms said Thursday. Tokens from these joint sales will be listed for trading on Kraken shortly after they conclude.

Asked about the criteria for “highest-profile” sales, Legion co-founder Matt O’Connor told The Block that means raises with “sufficiently high target raise sizes.” Smaller, earlier-stage offerings will continue to run independently on Legion. O’Connor expects “the majority” of Legion sales to also run on Kraken Launch, with a focus on curating high-quality projects rather than chasing volume. The first joint sale will be unveiled within the next week, he added.

Legion’s platform uses a merit-based scoring system, allowing founders to allocate tokens to loyal community members and project-aligned investors. The platform says its token sales are MiCA-compliant in Europe and that it has been in discussions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission crypto task force as it looks to expand access to U.S. participants as early as Q4.

While access to Legion-specific sales will be determined by its scoring system, Kraken Launch offerings will initially open on a first-come, first-served basis. Up to 20% of each sale will be reserved for Legion Score holders, with the rest available publicly on both Kraken and Legion, the firms said.

‘First ICO underwriter’

Legion competes with platforms like Cobie’s Echo and BuidlPad but positions itself differently. O’Connor likened Legion’s model to traditional IPOs, where underwriters coordinate pricing, distribution, research, compliance, and listings, as well as help “stabilize the price” through legal exemptions. “No one is doing this in crypto. There are many ‘launchpads’, but there are no ICO underwriters,” O’Connor said. 

“We are building the world’s first ICO underwriter,” he said. “We are covering token distribution, secondary trading, liquidity, sell-side research, regulatory compliance automation, etc., all in one product.” O’Connor added that the next Figma or Reddit won’t IPO but will “launch to its community onchain.”

Brett McLain, Kraken’s head of payments and blockchain, told The Block the exchange will conduct its own independent compliance and due diligence checks on token sales and subsequent listings in addition to Legion’s reviews.

Kraken Launch’s revenue model includes sales transaction fees split between Kraken and Legion, plus trading fees from users who participate in the sales. Each new token will then be listed on Kraken, creating another fee-based opportunity, McLain said.

While Kraken Launch has no immediate plans to host token sales directly, McLain said both Kraken and Legion retain the flexibility to do so in the future. He described Legion as Launch’s exclusive partner, ruling out collaboration with other ICO platforms such as Echo or BuidlPad for now.

Legion co-founder Fabrizio Giabardo, however, said the platform ultimately plans to work with multiple exchanges and parties to expand distribution.

Kraken, which is reportedly gearing up for a public listing as early as the first quarter of 2026, has rolled out several new products amid a more permissive regulatory environment in the U.S., including a tokenized xStock product in the EU and retail-focused perps trading. Earlier this month, the exchange said it acquired the proprietary trading platform Breakout. 

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