Deutsche Börse said Tuesday it will invest $200 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, deepening a partnership between the two companies as the German exchange operator expands further into digital assets.
The investment, which is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the second quarter, will give Deutsche Börse a 1.5% fully diluted stake in Kraken through a secondary share purchase.
The investment is another sign of growing interest in the cryptocurrency industry from traditional finance (TradFi) institutions. The deal is part of the Frankfurt-headquartered stock exchange operator’s plans to offer access to a wider array of blockchain-based securities and tokenized investment products and builds on its prior partnership with Kraken.
On Dec. 4, 2025, Deutsche Börse entered into a strategic partnership with Kraken to improve institutional access to regulated crypto investment products like spot trading, tokenized markets and derivatives, including the integration of Kraken-backed xStocks to its digital asset infrastructure, 360X.
Deutsche Börse said the collaboration is intended to produce new products across trading, custody, settlement, collateral management and tokenized assets.
Kraken said on Nov. 19, 2025, that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering, a day after announcing an $800 million fundraising round that valued the company at $20 billion.
Top cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume. Source: CoinMarketCap
Kraken is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by daily trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Kraken did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Related: Kraken IPO, M&A deals to reignite crypto's 'mid-stage' cycle: fund manager
TradFi institutions expand into crypto
The move comes as other major financial market operators deepen their crypto exposure.
On March 9, Nasdaq, the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization, partnered with Kraken and its infrastructure subsidiary, Backed, to develop an equities transformation gateway that builds on Nasdaq’s tokenization proposal filed with US securities regulators in September 2025.
A week earlier, Intercontinental Exchange invested in crypto exchange OKX to bring NYSE-listed tokenized stocks to the exchange starting from the second quarter of 2026.
In January, CME Group, the largest derivatives exchange by volume, announced plans to launch crypto futures contracts tied to Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar (XLM). On April 6, CME announced plans to add Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) futures contracts starting May 4, subject to regulatory approval.
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