Kraken Parent Payward Agrees to Acquire Derivatives Exchange Bitnomial for $550 Million

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, said Friday that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million in cash and stock.

The acquisition centers on Bitnomial’s regulatory infrastructure, as the first fully CFTC-licensed derivatives company in the United States built for digital assets. The platform holds all three CFTC-issued licenses required to operate a full-stack domestic crypto trading and derivatives business: exchange, clearinghouse, and brokerage.

Beyond regulatory access, the deal expands Payward Services, the company’s B2B infrastructure platform that gives partners access to financial infrastructure capabilities through APIs. The platform now includes crypto trading, tokenized equities, staking, on/off-ramps, and regulated U.S. derivatives.

“The shape of a market is determined by its clearing infrastructure, not its front end,” said Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi, in a statement. “Settlement mechanics, margin models, and contract structures define what products can exist and who can access them. The U.S. has had no clearing infrastructure built for digital assets.”

“Bitnomial spent a decade building it: crypto settlement, crypto collateral, continuous 24/7 markets,” he continued. “These are capabilities that cannot be retrofitted onto legacy systems. They have to be built natively. That is the regulated foundation we are adding to Payward, starting with spot margin, perpetuals, and options for U.S. clients under CFTC regulation.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, according to Kraken. The deal values Payward equity at $20 billion, matching its valuation from November, when it announced an $800 million funding round. Earlier this week, Frankfurt stock exchange operator Deutsche Börse invested $200 million into the firm for a 1.5% stake.

Payward launched an EU derivatives offering in 2025, and confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the SEC in November, signaling a potential IPO ahead. In March, however, CoinDesk reported that the firm had put its public market plans on hold due to unfavorable market conditions.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication to remove a mention that Bitnomial is the only U.S. firm with a full stack of CFTC licenses.