BNY is in talks with Payward, the Wyoming-based parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, over a broad partnership that could stretch across digital assets and financial-market infrastructure, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The potential agreement could include crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and infrastructure, the people said. Those services are offered through Payward Services, the company’s business-to-business platform for banks, exchanges and asset managers.
One of the people said parts of the proposed arrangement could mirror the infrastructure portion of Payward’s recent commercial agreement with Nasdaq. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
Talks are still underway, and there is no guarantee the two sides will reach an agreement.
Both Payward and BNY declined to comment.
BNY talks would deepen Payward’s push into institutional finance
A deal with BNY would add to Payward’s effort to connect its digital-asset operations with established financial institutions. BNY, formerly known as Bank of New York Mellon, provides custody, asset servicing, clearing and wealth-management services to institutional clients.
BNY has also been developing tokenized deposits designed to support near-real-time onchain settlement between institutional market participants. That work forms part of the bank’s broader move into digital-asset infrastructure.
Nasdaq relationship offers a recent template
Nasdaq Ventures agreed last month to invest $100 million in Payward at a $21 billion valuation while expanding the companies’ collaboration on tokenized equities.
Under that agreement, Nasdaq and Payward will continue building the operational and commercial infrastructure for Nasdaq Equity Tokens. Payward will also adopt Nasdaq’s market-surveillance technology across its crypto, equities, tokenized-equities, futures and options venues.
The companies expect to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens in the second quarter of 2027. The initiative is meant to connect Nasdaq’s regulated markets with Payward’s xStocks ecosystem while preserving shareholder rights, regulatory protections and issuer control.
Payward is building beyond the Kraken exchange
Payward operates Kraken alongside a growing set of trading, payments and infrastructure businesses. Its product lineup spans spot crypto, derivatives, tokenized equities, custody, staking, payments and traditional securities. Through Payward Services, it also supplies infrastructure to banks, fintechs, brokerages and payment companies.
The company has also used acquisitions to build a broader financial-services platform. In April, Payward agreed to acquire U.S. crypto derivatives firm Bitnomial for as much as $550 million. It then followed with a $600 million deal for stablecoin-payments company Reap. Those transactions came after its approximately $1.5 billion acquisition of retail futures platform NinjaTrader in 2025.
CoinDesk reported last month that Payward had pushed its planned initial public offering to the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest, after previously shelving the listing because of difficult market conditions.