Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is actively transforming from a cryptocurrency exchange into a unified financial infrastructure service. According to co-CEO Arjun Sethi, the company aims to integrate trading, banking services, asset management, and institutional services, creating a common infrastructure.
Over the past two years, Payward has invested billions of dollars in acquiring companies, expanding its capabilities in futures and derivatives, as well as in tokenized stocks, allowing them to compete with platforms like Coinbase and Binance. However, Payward has chosen a different approach by creating infrastructure that can support multiple brands and be used by external financial companies. Sethi said in an interview with CoinDesk: "We are not a holding company. It's one platform, one balance sheet, and one regulatory stack."
Payward's performance indicators demonstrate the success of this strategy. In the second quarter of 2026, the company recorded $508 million in adjusted revenue, which is 17% more compared to the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA reached $23 million. Revenue from assets and other sources accounted for 60% of total revenue compared to 55% a year earlier. The average daily number of futures trades increased by 8%.
At that time, Payward's platforms had 6.6 million funded accounts, with assets ranging from $40 to $50 billion. The total transaction volume of the platform amounted to $310 billion, which is 18% less compared to the previous year. However, the company changed the method of counting funded accounts in August, and the new figures may include sub-accounts. Sethi noted that with the "one ledger" principle, Payward enables dynamic financial operations without the need for intermediaries, which are so prevalent in traditional financial systems. The platform consists of four foundational elements: trading through Kraken, banking services, asset management, and Payward Services, a business division.
Related articles
