Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is reportedly in the process of raising fresh capital, ahead of its potential IPO.
The fresh capital raise comes at a valuation of around $20 billion, according to media reports from Monday. Though the official confirmation from the firm is yet to arrive, reports suggest that sources close to the matter have broken the details of the capital raise to media outlets.
The move comes as the company steps up its spending on acquisitions and prepares more actively for a potential future public listing.
Payward’s plans on going public have come at a time when the market has been rather volatile, yet crypto firms listing on stock exchanges have inched up. Reports suggest that in 2025, the number and revenues of initial public offerings (IPOs) by cryptocurrency firms surged to all-time highs. In contrast to just four listings that raised $310 million in 2024, at least 11 big cryptocurrency firms went public in 2025, earning almost $14.6 billion worldwide.
Payward previous deals
Over the past year, Payward has significantly expanded its footprint through a series of large-scale deals. Most recently, it acquired stablecoin-focused payments firm Reap for about $600 million and digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for roughly $550 million.
The deals stemmed from Payward’s aim at focusing on building infrastructure beyond basic crypto trading, particularly in payments and derivatives markets.
Payward’s total valuation was mentioned to be around $20 billion for both the acquisitions, helped by investor confidence in its overall approach.
The firm’s biggest buyout to date happened in 2025 when it spent $1.5 billion to acquire NinjaTrader, a U.S.-based futures trading platform for retail customers. The deal provided the crypto giant with an exposure to a registered futures commission merchant which is certified by the CFTC.
The acquisition helped Kraken get a foothold in the U.S. derivatives market and also provided it with access to millions of futures traders.
The deals also come at a time when major crypto exchanges have put their best foot forward towards becoming a multi-asset trading platform in order to stay ahead of peers.
On the regulatory and corporate side, Payward has also taken steps toward a potential IPO. On November 19, the company filed an S-1 registration statement confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. An S-1 filing marks the beginning of the process towards going public.
However, despite these developments, earlier reports have stated that the plans for the IPO had been put on hold in March as a result of unfavorable market conditions.
Nevertheless, internal sources at the company continue to say that there is a possibility of the company being listed publicly in the future, but only if the market stabilizes.
Payward still on track for an IPO
According to Co-CEO Arjun Sethi speaking during the Consensus Miami event, Payward is now “80 percent ready” for its initial public offering as the company has completed all the required preparations internally in anticipation of the move.
The Kraken ecosystem has evolved from a mere spot trading platform into a comprehensive financial ecosystem. The platform now offers various financial products such as derivatives, staking, and custodianship, amongst others.
Kraken has been trusted immensely by investors, with big institutional players picking up their piece of the cake ahead of the IPO announcement.
For instance, in April, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, operated by the company called Deutsche Börse, purchased a secondary interest worth $200 million in Payward, giving the latter a valuation of $13.3 billion.
The deal gave Deutsche Börse 1.5 percent stake, but no money was actually earned by the Payward.
Furthermore, Kraken received $800 million from two rounds of investment carried out by Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, and Tribe Capital at the end of 2024. Another investment came later from Citadel Securities in the amount of $200 million when the company was valued at $20 billion.