Crypto exchange Kraken is pushing to put other companies' IPOs on-chain while its own long-awaited Wall Street debut slips deeper into 2027.
- Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, doesn't plan to pursue its U.S. initial public offering before the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest, CoinDesk reported on Wednesday, Sept. 2, citing two people familiar with the matter.
- The company had already paused the process in March amid difficult market conditions after confidentially filing a draft S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in November.
- In May, Payward laid off 150 employees as it prepared for an IPO, The Coinformer reported.
IPOs for everyone else
The delay comes as Payward is building a business around giving its own customers access to other companies going public.
In June, the company unveiled an xStocks program allowing eligible Kraken users to express interest in U.S. IPOs before trading begins and, if allocated shares, receive their investment as tokenized equity at the IPO price.
- Kraken quickly used the system for high-profile listings including SpaceX and Bending Spoons, the owner of WeTransfer and Vimeo.
Payward this week struck a deal with the London Stock Exchange Group to bring tokenized versions of major UK-listed companies to its xStocks network.
Kraken waits for a better market
Payward's own numbers help explain the caution as adjusted revenue rose 17% year over year to about $508 million in Q2, but adjusted EBITDA fell roughly 71% to $23 million and platform trading volume dropped 18% to around $310 billion. Platform assets nevertheless reached roughly $40 billion.
- Payward raised $800 million last November at a $20 billion valuation shortly before filing confidentially for the IPO.