Crypto exchange giant Kraken has onboarded Andreas Roussos as Executive Director of its Cyprus office.
Roussos is not a trader, marketer, or crypto evangelist.
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He comes instead from the world of regulatory technology. Before joining Kraken, he spent a decade at Point 9, a Limassol-based regtech firm serving banks, brokers, funds and asset managers.
Over the years, he specialised in the less glamorous but increasingly essential mechanics of modern finance: EMIR reporting, MiFID II compliance and cross-border regulatory infrastructure.
That background appears to be deliberate for Kraken. In 2025, the US-based crypto exchange acquired CFD broker Greenfield Wealth, securing a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) licence and, with it, access to the EU’s MiFID framework.
Since then, the company’s activity in Cyprus has accelerated noticeably. Earlier this year, Kraken advertised roughly 50 Cyprus-linked vacancies on LinkedIn within the span of two weeks, a signal that the exchange’s European strategy is moving from licensing to execution – an intent now crystallised in the hiring of Roussos.
The exchange also obtained a MiCA licence from the Central Bank of Ireland the same year, giving it regulatory footing across the European Union as ESMA tightens oversight of digital assets.
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Roussos hiring comes at a time of increased regulatory scrutiny. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission has informed CIFs that it intends to conduct on-site visits and desk-based reviews as part of ESMA’s Common Supervisory Action for 2026.
At the same time, the grandfathering period for MiCA is coming to an end in July.
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This year, Kraken introduced 70 traditional finance futures markets for eligible European clients, adding equity indices, commodities and FX contracts alongside more than 290 crypto perpetuals already available on the platform.
The products are offered through Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, the CIF created following the rebranding of Greenfield Wealth after its acquisition by Kraken.
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The move followed Kraken’s earlier rollout of regulated digital-asset futures across Europe in 2025 and forms part of a broader strategy to position the company as a multi-asset trading venue rather than merely a crypto exchange.
That ambition extends further still. Through its xStocks offering, Kraken now provides round-the-clock access to tokenised equities and equity-linked perpetual futures.
Tokenised equities have emerged as one of the standout winners of 2026, drawing growing interest from trading platforms and brokerages searching for new revenue streams beyond traditional stock and CFD markets.
According to a report by Foresight Ventures, a crypto VC, tokenised equities now account for roughly US$800 million in market capitalisation, making them one of the fastest-growing segments within the broader real-world asset (RWA) universe.
Nonetheless, Kraken has also partnered with Deutsche Börse to explore integrated trading, custody and settlement infrastructure spanning crypto assets, equities and derivatives.
Against that backdrop, Roussos’ appointment is less a routine hire than a signal of the industry’s tilt towards regulatory and institutional expertise.
