Kraken Owner Payward Delays IPO Until 2027
The delay follows weaker crypto prices and lower volumes, while Consensys, Ledger, and Grayscale have also pushed back their listing plans.
Key Takeaways
- Payward, Kraken's parent company, is delaying its IPO until at least the second quarter of 2027.
- The company had already confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the U.S. regulator SEC in November 2025.
- Despite the delay, adjusted revenue rose to $508 million in the second quarter, and funded accounts increased to 6.6 million.
Payward, the parent company of the American crypto exchange Kraken, is delaying its IPO until at least the second quarter of 2027. That pushes one of the crypto sector's most closely watched potential public debuts even further back.
IPO Delayed Again
According to two people familiar with the matter, Payward was not planning to go public any earlier. The Wyoming-based company had already confidentially filed a draft S-1 in November 2025 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a planned issuance of common stock.
Kraken declined to comment on questions about the delay. The new timing extends an already long wait for a listing that has been closely watched in the sector for months.
Weak Market Slows Listings
CoinDesk reported in March that Payward had already paused its IPO plans because of tough market conditions. At the time, weaker crypto prices, lower trading volumes, and lower valuations were all factors. In 2026, the market was actually expecting more crypto IPOs after the strong debuts of Circle and Bullish last year, but that picture has now changed.
Other big names have also pushed back their plans. Consensys, Ledger, and asset manager Grayscale have moved their listing plans to a later date, showing that the IPO market for crypto companies has clearly cooled off.
Kraken Keeps Expanding
Despite the delay, Payward keeps broadening its business. It previously added derivatives, tokenized equities, and payments infrastructure through acquisitions and product launches. In the second quarter, adjusted revenue rose to $508 million, up 17% from a year earlier. Funded accounts climbed to 6.6 million, and assets on the platform reached $40 billion (€34.5 billion).
The acquisitions of Bitnomial in May and Reap in July fit into that broader strategy. Later, the planned acquisition of Magic Labs' wallet infrastructure was added as well. For European crypto readers, this matters because it shows how major exchanges are increasingly evolving into broader financial platforms, with trading, payments, and Wallet services under one roof.
That fits a broader trend in which major trading platforms are expanding their offerings. Crypto exchanges are expanding into stocks and commodities to keep capital in-house, while looking for new revenue beyond the traditional spot market.
