Payward, the Wyoming-based parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is pursuing a strategy to become a broader financial infrastructure platform rather than remaining solely a crypto exchange. Over the past two years, the company has spent billions on acquisitions and partnerships to expand its capabilities across futures, derivatives, tokenized stocks, and banking services in the U.S. and Europe.
"We're not a holding company," co-CEO Arjun Sethi told CoinDesk. "It's one platform, one balance sheet, one regulatory stack."
The strategy centers on what Sethi calls "one ledger," which allows money and assets to move between products without the multiple intermediaries typical of traditional finance. This approach differs from competitors like Coinbase and Binance, which are consolidating products under single brands. Instead, Payward is building regulated infrastructure that can support multiple brands and be used by external financial companies.
Four Business Pillars
Payward has organized its vision around four pillars: trading through Kraken, banking, asset management, and Payward Services, a business-to-business infrastructure division. Kraken operates about 6.6 million funded accounts holding between $40 billion and $50 billion in assets across more than 190 countries and territories.
Building, Buying, and Partnering
The company pursues a three-pronged approach to expand capabilities. Payward paid $1.5 billion to acquire NinjaTrader to establish a U.S. futures brokerage, followed by a $550 million acquisition of Bitnomial for regulated derivatives infrastructure. Sethi also indicated the company is "about to buy a bank in Europe," though the specific target was not disclosed.
Payward is also partnering with established financial institutions. Nasdaq agreed this month to invest $100 million in Payward and expand work on Nasdaq Equity Tokens and market surveillance technology, with plans to launch the tokens in the second quarter of 2027. The London Stock Exchange separately partnered with Payward to explore tokenized public equities, planning to list xStocks on its forthcoming LSE 24 venue in 2027.
Infrastructure for External Partners
Payward Services offers banks, fintech companies, brokerages and crypto platforms access to common infrastructure through a unified set of APIs. At least 25 companies are building products using this infrastructure and are expected to launch this year, according to Sethi. The division packages capabilities including custody, liquidity, compliance, risk management, payments and settlement.
Asset Management Expansion
The company is formalizing its investment offerings into an asset-management platform accommodating multiple managers, strategies and asset classes. Payward recently partnered with Bitwise on an institutional investment product and plans to add more managers and strategies. The focus is on tokenized equities and structured products that can be divided into smaller units and distributed globally.
Path to Public Markets
Payward confidentially filed for an IPO in November 2025, though CoinDesk reported earlier this month that the company does not plan to go public before the second quarter of 2027 at earliest. Sethi said Payward remains profitable and is not relying on an IPO to finance its expansion. The company reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter of 2026, marking a 17% increase year-over-year.
Recent capital raises have brought in strategic partners including Citadel Securities and Nasdaq, whose expertise can help extend the platform, rather than serving as primary financing mechanisms.
