Payward has agreed to acquire Reap Technologies for $600 million in cash and stock, giving Kraken’s parent company a larger position in stablecoin-based payments and business finance infrastructure. The Hong Kong-based company specializes in cross-border payments, corporate cards, expense management, and embedded finance products built around fiat and stablecoin rails.
The transaction values Payward shares at $20 billion, according to Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken. That valuation is in line with Payward’s recent acquisition strategy, including its April agreement to buy Bitnomial for up to $550 million in a cash-and-stock deal that also valued Payward equity at $20 billion.
Reap gives Kraken a very different asset from a trading exchange or derivatives venue. The company sits closer to corporate treasury, card issuance, business payouts, and stablecoin settlement. Its product stack includes Reap Direct, stablecoin-enabled corporate cards, cross-border payment APIs, expense controls, multi-user permissions, reporting tools, and embedded finance infrastructure.
Why Reap Matters For Kraken
Reap’s own materials describe the business as stablecoin-enabled financial infrastructure for companies that need to manage fiat and digital asset treasuries in one place. Its corporate card product lets businesses spend in fiat while settling with stablecoins, while its payment API is designed to automate cross-border payouts through a unified integration.
The company has also positioned Hong Kong as a base for expansion into Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where demand for cross-border financial infrastructure remains strong. Reap said it processed billions in stablecoin-funded transaction flows in 2024 and employed more than 200 people worldwide.
That makes the acquisition strategically useful for Kraken because stablecoin payments are becoming a core part of exchange expansion. Trading fees remain important, but the larger platform opportunity now includes payments, cards, custody, tokenized equities, derivatives, on-ramps, off-ramps, and business-to-business infrastructure.
Crypto-linked “U card” products and stablecoin-funded card programs often depend on the same kind of backend plumbing Reap offers: card issuance, fiat spending, stablecoin repayment, compliance workflows, and cross-border settlement. Owning that layer could help Kraken move further into payments without relying only on third-party card or payout partners.
Kraken’s Acquisition Push Keeps Expanding
The Reap deal follows a series of moves that have turned Kraken into a broader financial infrastructure company. A recent Kraken expansion breakdown tracked how the company has added futures, tokenized stocks, token operations, payments, and derivatives through acquisitions and product launches.
Payward’s Bitnomial deal added a full CFTC-licensed derivatives stack in the U.S., while Kraken’s xStocks push expanded tokenized equity exposure for non-U.S. users. Reap adds a payments layer that is more connected to stablecoin adoption and everyday business finance.
The timing also fits the broader stablecoin market. Businesses are using stablecoins for cross-border payments, contractor payouts, card settlement, treasury operations, and faster dollar movement outside traditional banking hours. A recent stablecoin payment app guide explained how these products try to hide blockchain complexity behind familiar transfer and spending flows.
The acquisition would put Kraken closer to the actual movement of money, not only the trading of crypto assets. With Reap, Payward gains infrastructure for business payments and stablecoin-funded card programs in regions where dollar-linked tokens already function as settlement rails. Kraken’s next challenge is integrating that payments layer with its exchange, derivatives, tokenized equity, and institutional products without turning the platform into a collection of disconnected acquisitions.
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