According to two people familiar with the matter, Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency platform Kraken, is raising new funds at a $20 billion valuation.
Kraken declined to comment on the salary increase.
The company received its latest round of funding as it increased its acquisition investments.
Recently, the company acquired a payment firm focused on stablecoins, raising $600 million, and invested $550 million in the digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial, as Payward continues to scale ahead of its planned IPO. In both transactions, Payward was valued at $20 billion.
Its largest transaction was in 2025 with the acquisition of NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. Kraken, a U.S.-based retail futures platform and a futures broker registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has solidified its position in the U.S. derivatives market and expanded its base of active futures traders through this acquisition.
Payward stated that it has confidentially submitted a draft of the S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. November 19 marks the first step toward a potential listing.
In March, CoinDesk reported that the company had suspended its IPO plans, but sources said it still intends to go public, possibly only after market conditions improve.
Last week at the Consensus conference in Miami, Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the exchange is "80% ready to go public".
Kraken is a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange where users can buy, sell, and trade digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum using fiat currency or cryptocurrency. The company has expanded from spot trading to include products like derivatives, staking, and custody, transforming into a more comprehensive cryptocurrency services platform.
In recent years, the Wyoming-based company has adopted a more focused yet strategic acquisition approach, aiming to expand its business from core cryptocurrency trading into derivatives and broader multi-asset market infrastructure.
Deutsche Börse AG
Deutsche Börse (DB1, parent company of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Xetra) announced in April that it has taken a $200 million stake in Payward.
The shares acquired through the secondary market sale represent approximately 1.5% of the company’s total outstanding shares. The transaction values Payward at $13.3 billion, below the previous valuation of approximately $20 billion in earlier funding rounds. Payward did not receive any proceeds from this transaction.
In November last year, Kraken announced it had raised $800 million. To support its plan to tokenize traditional financial products, the company conducted the funding in two tranches. Investors in this round included Jane Street, DRW Venture Capital, and Tribe Capital, followed by Citadel Securities, which agreed to a separate $200 million strategic investment at a $2 billion valuation.