Kraken Parent Payward to Buy Reap for Up to $600M

Payward Inc., the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, will acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies for up to $600 million in cash and Payward stock. The transaction values Payward’s equity at $20 billion and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Reap operates USDC-native settlement rails for cross-border business payments, issues a corporate card called Reap Card and offers API-driven treasury and payments tools. The company has operations in Hong Kong and Singapore and serves corridors across Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Payward said the acquisition pairs Kraken’s exchange infrastructure and regulatory licenses with Reap’s live stablecoin settlement rails and B2B payment products. The companies plan to expand USDC payment flows, corporate card issuing and cross-border settlement services for institutional and corporate customers.

Planned offerings include native stablecoin payment flows that settle off-chain in USDC, corporate card issuance through Payward’s platforms, and integrated cross-border settlement tied to Kraken’s custody and trading services. Payward said the combined platform will allow customers to access trading, custody, settlement and payments from a single provider.

The companies outlined three integration priorities: accelerate expansion across Asia, build a full B2B financial stack for corporate and institutional clients, and launch stablecoin-native payment products. Payward described the deal as a way to scale regional operations more quickly than building new licensing and infrastructure from scratch.

Regulatory review will focus on cross-border payment activities, card issuing and custody services. Closing remains conditional on receiving required approvals and completing integration work.

Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, commented in the company release: “If you take Europe out, the fastest growing market is Asia, not just revenue but also asset-on-platform. They have already done it in Asia. They can expand into the US overnight with us.”

Reap was founded to serve businesses operating across fast-growing emerging markets and has concentrated on USDC settlement for B2B flows. Payward’s announcement places regulated USDC rails at the center of its planned expansion into payments and corporate financial services.