TLDR
- Payward, Kraken’s parent company, is unifying trading, banking, asset management and business services on one shared platform.
- The company posted $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter of 2026, up 17% year over year.
- Nasdaq invested $100 million in Payward and the two are building tokenized equity infrastructure together.
- Payward spent $1.5 billion on NinjaTrader and up to $550 million on Bitnomial to gain regulated futures and derivatives licenses.
- The London Stock Exchange plans to list Payward-backed xStocks on a new venue in 2027.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is turning itself into a broader financial infrastructure provider. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi says the goal is one platform, one balance sheet and one regulatory stack rather than a group of separate businesses.
Payward is partnering with @Ledger to connect Ledger’s security infrastructure with Payward’s global financial rails.
Kraken customers will be able to use Ledger signers directly in Kraken, while Ledger Wallet™ will leverage @PaywardServices infrastructure to power buy, sell,…
— Payward (@Payward) September 24, 2026
The company has split its strategy into four parts. These are trading through Kraken, banking, asset management and a business-to-business arm called Payward Services.
Kraken itself has about 6.6 million funded accounts holding between $40 billion and $50 billion in assets. Those accounts span more than 190 countries and territories.
Acquisitions Add Regulated Trading Infrastructure
Payward has spent billions buying companies rather than building everything from scratch. In March 2025, Kraken agreed to buy futures brokerage NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion.
That deal brought regulated futures trading capability into the group. NinjaTrader kept operating as its own platform after the purchase closed.
Payward followed with a deal for Bitnomial worth up to $550 million in cash and stock. Bitnomial held three separate derivatives registrations from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, covering exchange operations, clearing and brokerage.
Payward completed that purchase on May 1, 2026. The company said Bitnomial’s infrastructure now supports regulated futures and margin products in the United States.
In September, Payward said it would offer perpetual futures using Hyperliquid’s technology to eligible clients, pending regulatory approval. Bitnomial would handle clearing and settlement for those contracts.
Tokenized Stocks Draw Partnerships With Nasdaq And LSE
Payward’s push into tokenized equities has brought in two major stock exchange operators. Nasdaq announced on September 10 that it would invest $100 million in Payward.
The companies are expanding a project called Nasdaq Equity Tokens, expected to launch in the second quarter of 2027. Payward was valued at $21 billion as part of that investment.
The London Stock Exchange struck a separate partnership with Payward. It plans to list xStocks, tokenized versions of public shares and funds, on a new venue called LSE 24 sometime in 2027.
Sethi said partnerships with established exchanges matter because those exchanges hold decades of regulatory and listing experience. He described that experience as their main value.
Payward is also opening its internal technology to outside companies through Payward Services. At least 25 companies were building products on that infrastructure as of the CoinDesk interview, including Hyperliquid.
The company closed its purchase of stablecoin payments firm Reap in July. It agreed the same month to acquire wallet infrastructure from Magic Labs, technology used by around 60 million people.
Financially, Payward reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter of 2026, a 17% increase from a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA reached $23 million during the same period.
Total platform transaction volume fell 18% year over year to $310 billion as crypto trading slowed. Futures and tokenized equity activity grew instead.
Payward confidentially filed paperwork for a public listing in November 2025. Sethi said the company is not expected to go public before the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest, and does not need the listing to fund its plans.
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