Payward Inc., Kraken’s parent company, posted second-quarter adjusted revenue of $508 million, climbing 17% year-over-year despite platform transaction volume dropping 13% to $310 billion. While industrywide crypto spot trading volume plunged 27.9% in Q2, dragging down competitors including eToro, Robinhood, and Coinbase, Payward captured spot market share for the third consecutive quarter and expanded futures and equities activity.
The growth story centers on balance sheet expansion rather than trading velocity. Funded accounts surged 42% to 6.6 million, boosted by MiCA authorization momentum in the EEA, while client balances jumped 48% to $65 billion at constant prices. Asset-based revenue now represents 60% of total revenue, up from 55% last year, reflecting Payward’s strategic pivot toward custody and banking services including its June-launched Flexline credit product and expanded European IBAN offerings.
Two acquisitions underpinned this infrastructure shift: Bitnomial provided CFTC-regulated derivatives capabilities enabling the first US retail spot margin and perpetual futures products, while Reap added stablecoin payments infrastructure.
FXnCO Insight
Payward’s outperformance signals that crypto platforms prioritizing regulated custody and financial services infrastructure are capturing market share as pure trading revenue contracts across the sector.
Source: Finance Magnates