Kraken Parent Payward to Acquire Saldo Bank in European Banking Expansion

Crypto exchange Kraken's parent company, Payward, is acquiring Lithuania-based, EU-regulated Saldo Bank, bringing traditional banking capabilities, including lending, deposits and card issuance, into its expanding financial services ecosystem.

The acquisition, subject to regulatory approval, would make Payward the first digital asset company to acquire a bank in Europe.

But the bigger story is how Kraken is positioning itself ahead of a potential IPO.

It is no longer just a crypto exchange; it is building a full stack financial services capabilities across:

1️⃣ Banking: Acquiring Saldo Bank to expand into traditional lending, deposits and banking services.

2️⃣ Capital markets: Partnering with the London Stock Exchange to tokenize UK-listed equities through its xStocks infrastructure.

3️⃣ Institutional market infrastructure: Securing a $100 million strategic investment from Nasdaq to advance tokenized equities and always-on market infrastructure.

4️⃣ Payments: Acquiring Reap to expand into global payments and card issuance.

5️⃣ Trading infrastructure: Expanding beyond crypto spot trading into equities, derivatives, custody and tokenized assets.

Kraken is already generating meaningful revenue. Payward reported $2.2 billion in adjusted revenue in 2025, reflecting its evolution into a diversified financial platform.

The strategic direction of all these initiative is significant.

Kraken is no longer simply competing with Coinbase, Binance and other crypto exchanges. It is increasingly positioning itself to compete across the financial services value chain:

Trading → Custody → Tokenization → Payments → Banking → Lending

And its relationships with established market infrastructure providers, particularly Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange, give it an increasingly important role connecting traditional capital markets with crypto-native distribution.

As I explained in this recent Strategic Edge note, the future of crypto exchange is less about crypto and more about how it is plugged into the broader market. Kraken, along with its peers, is leading the transformation.