Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, will not pursue an initial public offering until the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest, CoinDesk reported Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The Wyoming-based company confidentially filed a draft S-1 registration statement with the SEC in November 2025, days after raising $800 million at a $20 billion valuation that included a $200 million investment from Citadel Securities. It froze the listing in March as falling crypto prices, saying thinner trading volumes and compressed valuations made the timing unworkable. By May, reporting suggested the debut could slip into 2027.
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Payward is not alone in waiting. Asset manager Grayscale, Ethereum software developer Consensys and hardware wallet maker Ledger have all postponed listings this year, after 2025 produced successful debuts from Circle and Bullish.
The operating business has kept moving. Payward reported adjusted second-quarter revenue of $508 million, up 17% year over year, with funded accounts up 42% to 6.6 million and $40 billion in assets on the platform. It closed its $550 million purchase of derivatives venue Bitnomial in May and its $600 million acquisition of stablecoin payments firm Reap in July, then agreed to buy Magic Labs‘ wallet infrastructure business. On Tuesday, the London Stock Exchange said it would work with Payward to bring large UK stocks onchain.
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