Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is seeking a fresh funding round at a $20 billion valuation, according to two people familiar with the matter. Kraken declined to comment on the raise.
The company confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the SEC last November, the first step toward a public listing. Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said at the Consensus Miami conference last week that the exchange is "80% ready" to go public. Although a March report indicated the firm paused its IPO plans due to unfavorable market conditions, sources say Payward remains interested in listing once conditions improve.
Ahead of its potential IPO, Payward has ramped up acquisitions. It recently bought stablecoin-focused payments firm Reap for $600 million and digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for $550 million. Both deals valued Payward at $20 billion. Its largest acquisition came in 2025 with the $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader, a U.S.-based retail futures platform and CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, giving Kraken a major foothold in the U.S. derivatives market.
Deutsche Börse stake
In April, Deutsche Börse, owner of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Xetra, took a $200 million stake in Payward through a secondary share sale, representing roughly 1.5% of the company. The transaction valued Payward at $13.3 billion, below the approximately $20 billion valuation attached to previous funding rounds. Payward did not receive any proceeds from the deal.
Previous fundraising
Last November, Kraken raised $800 million in two tranches to support its push to bring traditional financial products onchain. Backers included Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, and Tribe Capital. Citadel Securities later agreed to a separate $200 million strategic investment at a $20 billion valuation.
Kraken, based in Wyoming, started as a spot crypto exchange for bitcoin and ether and has expanded into derivatives, staking and custody, transforming into a full-service crypto platform. The firm has adopted an increasingly strategic acquisition strategy aimed at expanding beyond core crypto trading into derivatives and broader multi-asset market infrastructure.