Kraken parent company Payward agreed to acquire stablecoin-focused payments firm Reap Technologies in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjunt Sethi.
The acquisition values Payward stock at $20 billion and marks Kraken's first infrastructure acquisition in Asia, according to the report. Sethin told Bloomberg the deal is also the company’s third-largest to date.
Reap, based in Hong Kong, provides cross-border and business payments infrastructure that connects traditional financial systems with digital assets. The company focuses heavily on stablecoin-powered settlement and business-to-business payment flows.
“If you take Europe out, the fastest growing market is Asia, not just revenue but also asset-on-platform,” Sethi told Bloomberg. “They have already done it in Asia. They can expand into the US overnight with us.”
On Tuesday at Consensus Miami 2026, Sethi announced Kraken is “about 80% ready” to go public, highlighting the company’s initial public offering (IPO) plans as it rolls out a new partnership with MoneyGram aimed at solving crypto’s “last mile” problem.
The Reap deal announcement also follows Payward’s April 17 deal to acquire digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million, in a cash-and-stock transaction that values the firm at $20 billion. Bitnomial, founded over a decade ago, is the first crypto-native platform to secure all three licenses required to operate a full-stack derivatives business in the U.S. It has approvals to operate a designated contract market, a derivatives clearing organization and a futures commission merchant. The acquisition effectively shortcuts years of regulatory buildout for Payward as it expands its U.S. footprint.
The acquisition announced Thursday expands Kraken’s footprint in Asia, which has emerged as one of the fastest-growing regions for crypto adoption and stablecoin activity.
Reap was founded by Daren Guo, who previously launched Stripe’s Asia-Pacific business, and Kevin Kang, a former investment banker, according to the company’s website.