Payward Revenue Hits $2.2 Billion as Kraken Exchange Reports Strong 2025 Growth

TLDR

• Payward, Kraken’s parent company, earned $2.2 billion in 2025, a 33% increase from 2024’s $1.6 billion
• Trading revenue and asset-based services each contributed approximately half of total income
• Total platform transaction volumes increased 34% to $2 trillion during the year
• Strategic acquisitions of NinjaTrader, Breakout, and Backed expanded product offerings
• Assets on platform rose 11% to $48.2 billion with 5.7 million funded accounts

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Payward, the company behind cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, generated $2.2 billion in revenue during 2025. This represents a 33% jump from 2024’s $1.6 billion, according to co-CEO Arjun Sethi’s Tuesday report.

The company’s revenue sources were evenly distributed between different business lines. Trading operations brought in 47% of total revenue. Asset-based services including custody, payments, and financing contributed the remaining 53%.

Platform transaction volumes totaled $2 trillion for the year. This marked a 34% increase compared to the previous year. Sethi credited sustained user engagement and deep liquidity for driving trading activity.

Assets under management on the platform grew to $48.2 billion, an 11% rise. Funded accounts expanded even more rapidly, increasing 50% to 5.7 million. Daily average revenue trades jumped 119% after key acquisitions.

Acquisition Strategy Expands Market Reach

Payward executed several major acquisitions throughout 2025 to diversify its business. The company spent $1.5 billion to purchase NinjaTrader, a futures trading platform serving traditional finance markets.

Other purchases included Breakout, a crypto-focused proprietary trading firm. Payward also bought derivatives platform Small Exchange and trading automation software Capitalise.ai. In January 2026, the company completed its acquisition of Backed, operator of the xStocks tokenized securities platform.

Sethi explained the acquisition strategy draws from tech companies like Meta and Amazon. Each product targets specific customer segments rather than offering generic services. This focused approach aims to maximize usage by meeting particular user needs.

Product Development and Global Growth

Kraken introduced the Krak payment app in June 2025. The application provides free local and international payments to compete with established services like Venmo and PayPal.

November updates added several features to Krak. Users gained access to a cashback debit card, salary deposit options, and expanded wealth management tools. The app represents Kraken’s push into everyday financial services beyond crypto trading.

The exchange strengthened its derivatives offerings across multiple regions. European and UK markets saw expanded derivatives trading options. US customers can now trade CME Group derivatives contracts covering equity indices, energy, metals, and foreign exchange.

Citadel Securities invested $200 million in Payward during November 2024. The deal valued the company at $20 billion. Kraken filed confidentially for an initial public offering the same month.

Public Market Plans Take Shape

KRAKacquisition Corp, a Kraken-backed special purpose acquisition company, listed on Nasdaq last week. The SPAC raised $345 million through its public offering. Natural Capital and Tribe Capital served as sponsors for the blank-check company.

Sethi emphasized that Payward’s infrastructure creates efficiency gains. Once systems are built, adding new products costs almost nothing relative to their value. The company plans to focus on multi-asset offerings, custody and financing operations, and continued geographic expansion.

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