Kraken Financial Secures Historic Federal Reserve Master Account; Analysts Predict Path to $100,000 Bitcoin

Kraken Financial gains direct Fed access, sparking predictions of $100,000 Bitcoin. Explore the institutional impact and the political firestorm in Washington.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 13, 2026, 6:09 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Forbes

A Watershed Moment for Crypto-Traditional Finance Integration

In a move that signals a "permanent shift" in the interaction between crypto institutions and sovereign financial rails, the Federal Reserve has officially approved Kraken Financial for a limited-purpose master account. This Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) now has the ability to hold balances directly at the Fed and settle in U.S. dollars via Fedwire. The approval allows Kraken to bypass the correspondent banks that have historically served as gatekeepers—and points of friction—for the cryptocurrency industry.

Institutional Tides: Morgan Stanley and Schwab Enter the Fray

The regulatory milestone arrives as Wall Street significantly ramps up its Bitcoin exposure. On April 8, 2026, Morgan Stanley launched its own low-fee Bitcoin ETF (MSBT), granting its 16,000 wealth advisors access to the asset class for a client base managing $6.2 trillion. Similarly, Charles Schwab recently published a risk-sizing framework suggesting an aggressive portfolio could hold up to 8.8% in Bitcoin. These developments, combined with $789 million in weekly spot ETF inflows, suggest that institutional "bids" are becoming a permanent fixture of the market.

Political Backlash and "Assimilation" Concerns

Despite the bullish market sentiment, the decision has met stiff resistance in Washington. Representative Maxine Waters has demanded a legal explanation for the Kansas City Fed's authority, while the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and 42 state banking associations have filed formal objections. Within the crypto community, some skeptics argue that Fed access represents the "assimilation" of decentralized finance into the traditional system rather than true adoption, warning that integration may come at the cost of the industry's founding principles.