What to know:
- Payward’s Q2 adjusted revenue climbed 17% to $508M while EBITDA dropped sharply to $23M.
- Kraken platform transaction volume fell 18% to $310B amid weaker crypto spot trading.
- Payward’s funded accounts climbed 42% to a record 6.6M, following the Bitnomial deal.
Kraken parent Payward reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter of 2026. The figure increased 17% year over year. However, adjusted EBITDA fell sharply to $23 million as weaker spot trading reduced platform activity.
Payward disclosed the results on August 14. Adjusted EBITDA fell from $80 million in Q2 2025. Adjusted revenue had totaled $432 million during the same quarter last year.
Payward did not report net income in its latest release. The company uses adjusted revenue and adjusted EBITDA as management measures. Earlier disclosures said those figures exclude certain expenses.
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Why Payward’s Q2 Trading Volume Fell 18%
Transaction volume on the platform for the period hit $310 billion. This was 18% below the same period in the previous year. Payward attributed the drop partially to lower volumes of crypto spot transactions.
Futures, equities, and tokenized equities grew for the period. Futures daily average revenue trades were up 8%. These increases did not offset the volume drop.
Dependence on transaction fees decreased in the quarter. Asset-related and other income accounted for 60% of total income, up from 55% in the previous year. This was attributed to assets and products in trading.
Platform assets amounted to $40 billion at the end of the quarter. Additionally, Payward recorded $65 billion in “Real Assets on Platform.” The figure is calculated using Q2 2025 pricing to exclude market impact.
That adjusted asset measure rose 48% year over year. The number of funded accounts rose 42%, reaching a record 6.6 million. Comparisons with Kraken’s previously reported 4.4 million accounts for Q2 2025 require caution.
What Payward Gained From the $550M Bitnomial Deal
Payward completed its $550 million Bitnomial acquisition on May 1. The purchase added a CFTC-regulated contract market, clearing organization, and futures commission merchant. It also created a vertically integrated US derivatives operation.
The infrastructure assisted in the regulation of perpetual futures and spot margin products in Q2. In July, a CFTC letter confirmed that the company was evaluating Kraken Derivatives Exchange. The business was formerly Small Exchange.
This assessment may involve partnerships or sales post-Bitnomial deal. The decision from the firm is still undisclosed. This assessment is based on the derivatives exchange, which was acquired in 2025.
How Payward Will Expand Beyond Spot Trading
The firm intends to focus on broader trading products, banking, tokenization, and payments in the second half of the year. The strategy involves offerings sold to third-party platforms. It goes further than cryptocurrency spot transactions.
The company completed the acquisition of Reap in July. Moreover, it reached an agreement for the acquisition of the wallet infrastructure business of Magic Labs. This deal had not yet closed during the quarterly release.
The figures demonstrate a varied quarter for the Kraken parent. Revenue, funded accounts, and adjusted platform assets grew. However, transaction volumes and earnings dropped. The next quarterly report would feature profitability and second-half performance.
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