Kraken Parent Payward Cuts 150 Jobs Ahead of U.S. IPO

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is cutting about 150 roles, roughly 5% of its 3,000-person global workforce, as it prepares for a U.S. initial public offering following a confidential S‑1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Company leaders framed the reductions as part of a cost-optimization plan intended to improve margins and present a leaner financial profile ahead of a public listing.

Payward filed a confidential S‑1 in November 2025 that referenced a valuation near $20 billion. The firm paused its listing timeline in March 2026 after weaker-than-expected results from recent crypto public offerings cooled investor demand.

The latest cuts extend a restructuring that began in October 2024, when Payward eliminated about 400 positions, or roughly 15% of staff, shortly after Arjun Sethi joined David Ripley as co-CEO. Additional consolidations and furloughs followed in early 2025 as the company merged overlapping teams. The current reduction affects multiple business units while recruiting continues in areas tied to growth, including derivatives, payments and tokenized assets.

At the time of the SEC filing, Payward closed an $800 million funding round that set the $20 billion reference valuation. The financing included secondary investments from traditional finance partners and supported acquisitions such as NinjaTrader for derivatives capability and Reap Technologies to bolster stablecoin payments.

Co-CEO Arjun Sethi has indicated the company is roughly 80% ready to go public, a comment that suggests the S‑1 remains active despite the pause. A Payward spokesperson declined to comment on specific personnel decisions and said the company regularly reviews its organizational structure while continuing selective hiring in priority areas.

Workforce reductions have been a common step for crypto firms preparing to list, as companies seek to strengthen earnings measures and balance-sheet ratios before public scrutiny. Payward has paused its IPO timetable and is monitoring market conditions and the performance of upcoming crypto listings before deciding when to resume.