Kraken Parent Payward Grows Revenue But Profit Collapses In Q2

Revenue growth at Kraken’s parent company masked a steep drop in operating profit last quarter. Payward reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for Q2, a 17% year-over-year increase, while adjusted EBITDA fell to $23 million from about $80 million a year earlier, according to the original report published by WuBlockchain.

The 17% revenue growth looks solid on the surface, but profit dropped by more than 70% from the prior-year quarter. That split is what exchange investors and operators are watching. Total platform transaction volume decreased to $310 billion during the quarter, while funded accounts rose 42% to a record 6.6 million. More users are holding balances on Kraken, yet the trading activity that produces fee income is not keeping pace with user growth.

The revenue mix is changing faster than profit can keep up

Asset-based and other revenue reached 60% of total revenue, up from 55% a year earlier. That category covers recurring services tied to balances rather than transaction flow. It may be steadier than trading income, but the Q2 result shows it is not yet profitable enough to offset weaker volume. On a $508 million top line, $23 million in adjusted EBITDA is a narrow margin for an exchange that used to convert trading volume into much fatter operating income.

The move toward balance-linked products fits a broader exchange pattern. Venues have expanded into custody, staking, and yield services to reduce dependence on spot trading revenue. That shift is visible beyond exchange income statements. Weekly tokenization data has tracked how real-world assets and on-chain yield products are becoming a more prominent part of crypto revenue models. Exchanges are not simply collecting more fees; they are trying to hold assets long enough to earn from them repeatedly.

Similar demand has appeared in staking-heavy assets. When institutional staking flows pick up, value shifts away from spread-based trading and toward recurring yield. Institutional staking demand has already become a visible force in specific ecosystems, and platforms are positioning their product teams around that change.