Rails Raises $14M From Backers Including Kraken to Launch Crypto Exchange

Crypto exchange Rails has raised $14 million in a token sale to launch its trading platform combining self-custody and high-speed execution, the company said in a press release Wednesday.

The company raised $14 million in a token sale to investors in April this year, and $6 million in a seed round that closed in January 2024, the firm said.

Investors include Kraken, Slow Ventures, CMCC Global, Quantstamp and Round13 Capital, the company said.

Rails said it is designed to solve crypto’s core trade-off: speed versus security.

The platform enables users to retain custody of their assets while accessing performance traditionally reserved for centralized exchanges, Rails said.

“Our hybrid model delivers the best of both worlds,” co-founder and CEO Satraj Bambra, said in the release. “Users get the transparency of on-chain custody without giving up speed.”

Rails will support trading for major crypto assets, the company said, and will leverage zero-knowledge proofs and Merkle trees to validate trades securely.

The platform will deploy exclusively on Kraken’s layer-2 network, Ink, to boost transaction speed and reduce costs, the company said.