Kraken Parent Payward to Buy Bitnomial for Up to $550M, Bolstering U.S. Crypto Derivatives Buildout

Kraken parent Payward has agreed to acquire Bitnomial for up to $550 million in cash and stock, a deal that would give Payward a fully licensed U.S. crypto-derivatives stack under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversight. Payward said the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Bitnomial holds all three CFTC licenses required to run a U.S. derivatives business: an exchange, a clearinghouse and a brokerage. With that infrastructure in place, Payward plans to expand Kraken's regulated U.S. offering to include products such as spot margin, perpetual futures and options. Executives framed the purchase as an infrastructure play more than a front-end trading upgrade. Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said clearing and settlement systems shape market access and determine which products can be offered. Payward highlighted Bitnomial's crypto-native build for settlement, collateral management and 24-hour trading, developed over more than a decade, including support for unified trading across spot and derivatives. Founder Luke Hoersten said the firm pioneered features such as regulated perpetual futures and native crypto settlement. Payward also plans to distribute regulated derivatives via its Payward Services division through a single API aimed at fintechs and financial institutions, including banks, brokerages and payment providers. Partners would be able to pair derivatives access with staking, tokenized equities and fiat on-ramps, as Payward pursues a vertically integrated suite of services. The deal also addresses a geographic gap. Payward already operates regulated derivatives businesses in the U.K. and the European Union; Bitnomial would provide a comparable foundation in the United States as regulatory clarity continues to improve.