Don’t be fooled by the prolonged crypto bear market, the industry remains a sound investment and less at risk from replacement by AI than traditional software as a service (SaaS) operations, according to Ravi Tanuku, CEO of KRAKacquisition Corp. (KRAKU), a blank check company backed by U.S. crypto exchange Kraken.

The company, a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Kraken with venture firms Natural Capital and Tribe Capital, closed its $345 million IPO in January, and is now ready to explore deals with crypto-native firms valued between $2 billion and $10 billion, Tanuku said in an interview.

This might sound ironic, given that Kraken’s parent Payward only this month delayed its much-anticipated IPO as…