Regulations

Story: Payward Delays Kraken IPO to Mid-2027 Amid Market Challenges and SEC Review

By Sydney TheCMO

1 / 15

Revenue Up, Transaction Volume Down. The financials are a mixed bag. In Q2, Payward posted adjusted revenue of $508 million, up 17%…

2 / 15

Three Acquisitions, Broader Ambitions. Payward has been busy on the deal front while the IPO clock ticks.

3 / 15

Kraken Isn't Alone in Waiting. Payward's situation isn't unique. RedotPay also pushed its U.S.

4 / 15

Payward wants to go public. Just not yet — and probably not before mid-2027 at the earliest.

5 / 15

The parent company of Kraken has pushed its initial public offering to no earlier than the second quarter of 2027, a delay driven by rough market conditions and an ongoing SEC…

6 / 15

No ticker. No share count. No price range.

7 / 15

Those details haven't been decided yet, and Payward says any offering will depend on where markets stand and whether the SEC finishes its review.

8 / 15

The financials are a mixed bag. In Q2, Payward posted adjusted revenue of $508 million, up 17% from the same period a year earlier. Funded accounts jumped 42% to 6.

9 / 15

But total platform transaction volume dropped 13% to $310 billion, which isn't great for a company trying to pitch itself as a growth story to public-market investors.

10 / 15

Payward has been busy on the deal front while the IPO clock ticks. On May 1, it closed the acquisition of Bitnomial, which gives Payward a foothold in regulated derivatives.

11 / 15

Related: Kraken Targets Wall Street with New Institutional Crypto Gateway, Delays IPO Plans

12 / 15

Three acquisitions in a few months is a lot. The pitch is pretty clear: Payward doesn't want to be just a spot exchange anymore.

13 / 15

That's probably part of the calculation behind the delay. Integrating three acquisitions while simultaneously preparing for a public listing is hard.

14 / 15

Payward's situation isn't unique. RedotPay also pushed its U.S. listing to 2027 while it works through regulatory approvals.

15 / 15

Gemini's experience is probably on everyone's mind. Its shares fell roughly 90% from their IPO-day high by mid-August.

The Currency Analytics

Want the full story?