Kraken parent Payward has entered talks with BNY over a potential partnership covering six areas, including crypto custody, trading and payments, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
Summary
- BNY and Payward are discussing crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and infrastructure.
- The talks remain ongoing, with no guarantee that the companies will reach an agreement.
- Nasdaq Ventures agreed in September to invest $100 million in Payward at a reported $21 billion valuation.
- Payward has completed acquisitions adding regulated U.S. derivatives and stablecoin payment services to its operations.
Two people familiar with the matter said the proposed arrangement could involve services supplied through Payward Services, the Wyoming-based company’s platform for banks, exchanges and asset managers.
One of the people said parts of the discussions resemble the infrastructure work included in Payward’s recent Nasdaq agreement. Speaking anonymously because the negotiations are private, the person described a possible agreement that remains under discussion.
Payward and BNY discuss custody, payments and trading
Alongside crypto products and custody, the people identified wealth management, trading, payments and financial infrastructure as possible areas of cooperation. Their account describes a potential relationship across several business lines rather than a single crypto product.
Through its business-to-business platform, Payward offers financial companies access to services that also support Kraken and its other businesses. According to the report, the company’s operations include spot crypto trading, derivatives, tokenized equities, custody, staking, payments and traditional securities.
On the banking side, the report identifies BNY, formerly Bank of New York Mellon, as a provider of custody, asset servicing, clearing and wealth management for institutional clients.
BNY’s own disclosures identify its parent as The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, headquartered in New York and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under BK. The bank’s digital cash program already involves institutional clients and financial-market infrastructure providers.
Nasdaq’s $100 million agreement includes tokenized equity infrastructure
In September, crypto.news covered Nasdaq Ventures’ agreement to make a $100 million investment in Payward. The Sept. 10 report put the company’s valuation at $21 billion, citing Bloomberg’s reporting from people familiar with the transaction.
Nasdaq’s accompanying announcement described three components: the investment, further work on Nasdaq Equity Tokens and a market surveillance agreement. Nasdaq said Wells Fargo served as its exclusive capital markets adviser on the transaction.
Under the agreement, Nasdaq said Payward will adopt its surveillance technology across crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options venues. The exchange operator also said its Digital Liquidity Networks business leads the collaboration on tokenized market infrastructure.
For the planned equity tokens, Nasdaq and Payward expect a launch in the second quarter of 2027. According to Nasdaq, their work covers distribution, trading and post-trade services, connecting the tokens with Payward’s xStocks ecosystem while preserving investor protections and issuer rights.
In its announcement, Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi described the planned infrastructure as:
“rails that do not close, with shareholder rights intact”
Nasdaq presented the launch date as an expectation and cautioned that its forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance. Its release listed regulation and the ability to implement strategic initiatives among the factors that could affect results.
BNY’s tokenized deposits begin with collateral and margin
In a Jan. 9 announcement, BNY described the first step in its deposit-tokenization program: creating blockchain records that mirror participating clients’ existing deposit balances.
Starting with collateral and margin workflows, the bank said the digital entries represent clients’ demand deposit claims against BNY. The system runs on a private, permissioned blockchain, while balances continue to appear in the bank’s traditional records for regulatory and reporting purposes.
Within that structure, BNY said its existing risk, compliance and control frameworks govern the capability. The bank identified rules-based, near-real-time cash movement as a future objective for institutional clients.
For U.S. market infrastructure, the announcement included a statement from ICE’s clearing leadership about work toward supporting tokenized deposits across its clearinghouses. ICE said it was preparing for 24-hour trading and the potential use of tokenized collateral, while maintaining communication with clearing members.
BNY also named institutions including Citadel Securities, Invesco and WisdomTree among the firms commenting on the deposit program. Their statements concerned BNY’s digital cash capabilities, separate from the reported Payward negotiations.
Acquisitions add U.S. derivatives, payments and wallets
In May, Payward completed its U.S. derivatives acquisition, according to a May 4 report citing the company’s statement. The Bitnomial purchase had been announced in April for up to $550 million in cash and stock; final terms were not disclosed at closing.
According to Payward, Bitnomial’s regulatory structure includes a designated contract market, a derivatives clearing organization and a futures commission merchant. Those registrations cover exchange, clearing and brokerage functions under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s framework.
Payward said it would connect the infrastructure across Kraken, NinjaTrader and Payward Services, giving banks, brokerages and payment firms access to regulated U.S. crypto derivatives through one integration.
The company also acquired retail futures platform NinjaTrader for approximately $1.5 billion in 2025, according to the report.
By Aug. 16, a report on Payward’s second-quarter financial results confirmed that Bitnomial closed on May 1 and the Reap acquisition closed on July 1. The stablecoin payments transaction had been announced at $600 million.
In the results disclosed Aug. 14, Payward reported $508 million in adjusted revenue, up 17% year over year, and $23 million in adjusted EBITDA. Platform transaction volume fell 18% to $310 billion, while asset-based and other revenue represented 60% of total revenue, compared with 55% a year earlier.
For wallet infrastructure, a July 28 report covered Payward’s agreement to acquire Magic Labs’ wallet business through an asset purchase. The companies said the technology had supported more than 60 million wallets and over $10 billion in stablecoin volume. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the agreement covered the wallet business rather than the entire company.
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