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<h2 id="payward-pays-600-million-for-hong-kong-payments-firm">Payward Pays $600 Million for Hong Kong Payments Firm</h2>
<p><a href="https://x.com/krakenfx" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@krakenfx</a> parent company Payward Inc. has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies for $600 million in a combination of cash and stock. <cite>The deal values Payward shares at roughly $20 billion, with co-CEO Arjun Sethi confirming the terms to Bloomberg.</cite></p>
<p><cite>Reap specializes in stablecoin-native payment infrastructure for businesses, including cross-border settlements, treasury tools, and corporate card services tied to fiat and digital assets.</cite><cite>The company operates across Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, and emerging market corridors spanning Asia, Latin America, and Africa.</cite><cite>Reap CEO and co-founder Daren Guo noted the company nearly tripled revenue and volumes in 2025, and expanded its regulated business from Asia to South America.</cite></p>
<p><cite>Reap fits into a B2B infrastructure platform that Payward launched this year, which offers stablecoin payments, digital-asset trading, and lending services to fintechs, banks, brokerages, and businesses that accept cryptocurrency payments.</cite><cite>The company also participates in the Global Dollar Network, aligning with Kraken's broader push into stablecoin settlement and embedded finance.</cite></p>
<h2 id="part-of-a-broader-acquisition-run">Part of a Broader Acquisition Run</h2>
<p><cite>The deal marks Payward's first infrastructure acquisition in Asia and its third-largest overall.</cite><cite>It lands days after Payward closed its acquisition of CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange Bitnomial for up to $550 million, following last year's $1.5 billion purchase of retail futures platform NinjaTrader, the largest crypto-TradFi acquisition on record at the time.</cite></p>
<p><cite>The Reap deal comes as Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi says the company is about 80% ready for an IPO and is targeting rapid expansion in both Asia and the United States.</cite> Sethi told Bloomberg: <cite>"If you take Europe out, the fastest growing market is Asia, not just revenue but also asset-on-platform. They have already done it in Asia. They can expand into the US overnight with us."</cite></p>
<p><cite>Hong Kong and Singapore have become the most permissive regulated markets for crypto in the world, with licensing frameworks that allow exchanges, custodians, and payments companies to operate with a clarity that the US and EU still lack for some product categories.</cite><cite>The transaction is signed but still subject to regulatory approvals in jurisdictions including Hong Kong and Singapore.</cite></p>
<p><strong>Sources:</strong><br><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/05/07/kraken-to-buy-stablecoin-payments-firm-reap-in-usd600-million-deal-bloomberg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CoinDesk: Kraken to buy stablecoin payments firm Reap in $600 million deal</a><br><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/400407/kraken-parent-payward-to-acquire-hong-kong-stablecoin-firm-reap-for-600-million" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Block: Kraken parent Payward to acquire Hong Kong stablecoin firm Reap for $600 million</a><br><a href="https://decrypt.co/367094/kraken-parent-acquires-asian-stablecoin-firm-reap-600-million" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Decrypt: Kraken Parent Acquires Asian Stablecoin Firm Reap for $600 Million</a></p>

Kraken Deepens Asia Push With Reap Acquisition

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