Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has pushed back its initial public offering timeline to at least the second quarter of 2027. The company filed a confidential draft registration in November 2025 and paused the process in March 2026.
While delaying its own listing, Payward is building tokenization infrastructure for major financial exchanges. On September 1, the company agreed with the London Stock Exchange to tokenize the 100 largest London-listed companies as xStocks—tokens backed one-for-one by real shares. The service will be available to investors in over 110 countries, excluding UK residents and US persons. The London Stock Exchange plans to trade these tokens on LSE 24, its 24-hour trading venue, pending regulatory approval.
Payward has reported $40 billion in xStocks volume since June 2025 and more than 200,000 holders of tokenized assets.
Similar arrangements are underway with other major exchanges. Nasdaq signed a deal in March to build a gateway allowing tokenized shares to move between regulated venues and public blockchains, targeting launch in the first half of 2027. Deutsche Börse invested $200 million for approximately a 1.5% stake in April.
The company has shown mixed financial performance. In the second quarter, adjusted revenue rose 17% to $508 million, but adjusted EBITDA fell 71% year-over-year to $23 million. Platform volume declined 18% to $310 billion.
Despite the trading challenges, Payward completed its acquisition of derivatives venue Bitnomial in May, establishing what it describes as a regulated derivatives stack available for licensing.
