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Kraken parent Payward agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi. The transaction values Payward at $20 billion and marks Kraken's first infrastructure acquisition in Asia — and its third-largest deal to date.
Reap, founded by former Stripe Asia-Pacific lead Daren Guo and ex-investment banker Kevin Kang, provides cross-border and business-to-business payments infrastructure that links traditional finance with digital assets, with a heavy focus on stablecoin-powered settlement.
Why it matters
Asia has become one of the fastest-growing regions for crypto adoption and stablecoin settlement flows, and Reap gives Kraken a regulated, on-the-ground rail into that market rather than a remote partnership. Sethi told Bloomberg that excluding Europe, Asia is now the fastest-growing region for Kraken not just by revenue but also by assets on platform — and Reap's team can roll those flows into the U.S. operation overnight through Payward's existing footprint. The deal lands weeks after Payward's up-to-$550 million acquisition of U.S. derivatives venue Bitnomial, which gave Kraken a full-stack licensed derivatives business in America; combined, the two transactions outline a payments-plus-markets build-out aimed at both ends of the trade lifecycle.
Market impact
The acquisition is also a signal on the IPO path: Sethi said at Consensus Miami 2026 this week that Kraken is "about 80% ready" to go public, and that the company is also rolling out a partnership with MoneyGram aimed at solving crypto's "last mile" problem. A $600M Asia infrastructure deal and a $550M U.S. derivatives build-out in the same month are the kind of consolidation moves that tend to compress the runway for competing exchanges — particularly in stablecoin B2B settlement, where Reap's cross-border stack now sits inside one of the deepest liquidity venues in the West.
Frequently asked questions
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What is Kraken buying with the Reap deal?
Kraken parent Payward agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies, a cross-border and B2B payments infrastructure firm focused on stablecoin-powered settlement, in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal reported by Bloomberg.
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How much is Payward valued at in the Reap acquisition?
The transaction values Payward at $20 billion, according to Bloomberg, citing co-CEO Arjun Sethi.
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Why is Reap strategically important for Kraken?
Reap gives Kraken its first infrastructure presence in Asia, a region co-CEO Arjun Sethi called the exchange's fastest-growing market outside Europe by both revenue and assets on platform, and adds cross-border stablecoin settlement rails.
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Who founded Reap Technologies?
Reap was founded by Daren Guo, who previously launched Stripe's Asia-Pacific business, and Kevin Kang, a former investment banker, according to the company's website.
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How does the Reap deal fit into Kraken's broader 2026 strategy?
It follows Payward's up-to-$550 million acquisition of U.S. derivatives venue Bitnomial in April and coincides with co-CEO Arjun Sethi saying Kraken is "about 80% ready" for an IPO, alongside a new MoneyGram partnership targeting crypto's "last mile" problem.
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