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About Payward
Payward is a B2B financial infrastructure platform built on 15 years of operating Kraken, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges. It offers a modular suite of services—including stablecoin payments, tokenized asset trading, custody, staking, lending, and fiat on/off ramps—through a single integration. Its core strength lies in combining deep liquidity, regulatory compliance (holding over 100 licenses globally), and a unified technology stack that connects crypto, tokenized assets, and traditional markets. The platform addresses the pain point of fragmented financial infrastructure, where businesses often juggle multiple vendors for trading, custody, payments, and compliance, leading to operational complexity, trapped capital, and higher costs. By consolidating these functions, Payward enables faster deployment, smoother cross-border transactions, and better capital efficiency. In the past six months (Feb–Aug 2026), Payward partnered with Broadridge to enable proxy voting for tokenized equities (xStocks) via secure Web3 authentication, expanding its governance capabilities. Additionally, its parent company explored obtaining full banking licenses outside the U.S. to offer lending and asset management services, as its current U.S. chartered institution (Kraken Financial) cannot lend client fiat deposits and lacks FDIC insurance. These moves signal a push toward broader financial services and deeper integration with traditional finance.
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has evolved from a crypto exchange operator into a unified financial infrastructure platform. Key long-term milestones include: exploring a full-service bank charter outside the US, signaling cross-border banking ambitions; acquiring Bitnomial (May 2026) to secure a fully CFTC-licensed derivatives stack, and Reap Technologies for stablecoin-native payment rails; leading a $20M round in Onyx Odds to enter prediction markets; and launching Payward Services as a B2B infrastructure layer. Financially, Q1 2026 saw revenue up 3% YoY with derivatives surging 51%, while Q2 profit fell to $23M (pre-tax down 71%) amid deliberate investment. Pre-IPO, Payward cut 150 roles to streamline integration. These steps—banking exploration, regulated derivatives, B2B infrastructure, and strategic M&A—position Payward beyond trading toward programmable capital and continuous markets.
In the past six months, Payward accelerated expansion around its unified financial infrastructure platform. Per , Q2 adjusted revenue grew 17% YoY to $508M, assets on platform reached $40B, and funded accounts hit 6.6M. It completed the acquisition of Reap, expanding stablecoin card issuance and cross-border payments; launched Payward Services for enterprise infrastructure; partnered with the London Stock Exchange to tokenize the top 100 London-listed equities as xStocks and explore native LSE-issued equity tokens; built an xStocks gateway with Nasdaq connecting permissioned and permissionless markets; and partnered with SoFi to connect banking and digital asset markets. Regulatory milestones included VARA preliminary approval, BVI VASP registration, and a U.S. OCC national trust company application.
Future focus: expand products across trading, banking, and asset management pillars, including AI-driven trading and structured products; broaden licensed geographic reach; and attract more institutions and AI agents onto open rails via Payward Services. LSE xStocks trading is subject to regulatory approval, with the goal of enabling 24/7 global tokenized markets.
Jesse Powell (Co-founder & Board Chairman)
Arjun Sethi (Co-CEO & Director)
David Ripley (Co-CEO)
Robert Moore (CFO)
Curtis Ting (COO)
Mayur Gupta (CMO)
Pranesh Anthapur (Chief People Officer)
Nicholas Percoco (Chief Security Officer)
CJ Rinaldi (Chief Compliance Officer)
Ben Gray (Chief Legal Officer)