Kraken Parent Company Payward Revenue Soars to $2.2 Billion as Crypto Trading Surges

TLDR

• Kraken’s parent company Payward reported $2.2 billion in revenue for 2025, up 33% from $1.6 billion in 2024
• Revenue split almost evenly between trading operations (47%) and asset-based services like custody and payments (53%)
• Transaction volumes reached $2 trillion, increasing 34% year-over-year across the platform
• Acquisitions including NinjaTrader, Breakout, and Backed helped drive growth and diversification into new markets
• Platform assets grew 11% to $48.2 billion while funded accounts increased 50% to 5.7 million users

Kraken’s parent company Payward posted $2.2 billion in revenue for 2025, marking a 33% increase from the previous year’s $1.6 billion. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi announced the results in a report released Tuesday.

The revenue growth came from strong performance across multiple business lines. Trading operations and asset-based services each contributed roughly half of total revenues. Specifically, trading generated 47% of revenue while custody, payments, and other services made up the remaining 53%.

Transaction volumes on the platform reached $2 trillion during the year. This represented a 34% increase compared to 2024. Sethi attributed the growth to deep liquidity and sustained user engagement across the exchange.

Platform assets under management climbed to $48.2 billion, an 11% rise. The number of funded accounts grew even faster, jumping 50% to reach 5.7 million users.

Acquisitions Drive Business Expansion

Payward completed multiple acquisitions throughout 2025 to expand its product offerings. The company purchased futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion. It also acquired crypto prop trading firm Breakout, derivatives platform Small Exchange, and trading automation software Capitalise.ai.

The NinjaTrader and Breakout deals particularly boosted daily trading activity. Average revenue trades increased 119% following these acquisitions. Payward closed another deal in January 2026, buying Backed, which operates the xStocks tokenized equities platform.

Sethi said the company took inspiration from tech giants like Meta and Amazon. The strategy involves separating products to target specific customer segments. This approach aims to increase usage by designing each offering for particular user needs.

Multi-Asset Strategy and Product Launches

Kraken launched its Krak payment app in June 2025. The app competes with services like Venmo and PayPal by offering free local and international payments. November updates added a cashback debit card, salary deposits, and wealth management tools.

The exchange expanded its derivatives trading in Europe and the UK. In the US, Kraken now offers CME Group derivatives contracts covering equity indices, energy, metals, and foreign exchange.

Payward received a $200 million investment from Citadel Securities in November 2024. This deal valued the company at $20 billion post-money. The company filed confidentially for an initial public offering in November 2024.

Last week, KRAKacquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company backed by Kraken, listed on Nasdaq. The SPAC raised $345 million through its initial public offering. Natural Capital and Tribe Capital sponsored the blank-check company.

Sethi said Payward’s focus remains on long-term growth across multiple asset classes and geographies. The strategy emphasizes building unified infrastructure where the cost of adding new products approaches zero relative to their value.

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