Franklin

Jane

Winter

Kraken's parent company, Payward, is reportedly laying off.
This comes amid talks of an anticipated initial public offering, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The cuts represent roughly 5% of the firm's total workforce of around 3,000 people.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/investing/kraken-cuts-1100-employees-to-weather-crypto-winter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Kraken Cuts 1,100 Employees to Weather Crypto Winter</a>
<h2 id="trimming-before-the-bell-rings">Trimming before the bell rings</h2>
The layoffs will affect about 150 people. It is being framed internally as an optimization exercise ahead of Kraken's planned public listing, one of the sources said, speaking to <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/05/14/kraken-parent-payward-cuts-150-staff-streamlining-business-ahead-of-planned-ipo" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Coindesk </a>on condition of anonymity.&nbsp;
Pre-IPO workforce reductions are a common strategy for companies seeking to present leaner, more profitable operations to prospective public market investors.&nbsp;
Kraken's path to an IPO has&nbsp;not been straightforward.&nbsp;
Payward confidentially filed a draft S-1 registration statement with the <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/13-year-old-crypto-exchange-files-confidential-s-1-for-planned-u-s-ipo" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SEC back in November</a>, taking the first formal step toward a listing.&nbsp;
However, the process stalled earlier this year when the company paused its IPO plans amid difficult market conditions, according to previous reporting.&nbsp;
Sources now say the firm intends to revive the listing once conditions become more favorable.
A Payward spokesperson told TheStreet&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Roundtable</a>,
<blockquote>
 "We don't comment on specific personnel or operational decisions. As a high performance culture, we continually evaluate and evolve our organization to ensure we have the right structure and talent in place to optimize growth and deliver for our clients."
</blockquote>
<h3 id="more-of-thestreet-roundtable">More of TheStreet Roundtable:</h3>
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/jane-street-is-moving-away-from-strategy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Jane Street is moving away from Strategy</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/mysterious-trader-buys-80-million-ahead-of-trumps-return-from-china" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Mysterious trader buys $80 million ahead of Trump's return from China</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/cathie-wood-buys-popular-crypto-stock-despite-revenue-miss" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Cathie Wood buys popular crypto stock despite revenue miss</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="layoffs-amid-collaborations">Layoffs amid collaborations</h2>
The layoffs come against a striking backdrop of multiple collaborations.
On May 12, Payward and global investment manager Franklin Templeton<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260512534616/en/Payward-and-Franklin-Templeton-Announce-Strategic-Collaboration-to-Advance-Tokenized-Assets-and-Institutional-Digital-Finance" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> announced</a> a strategic collaboration aimed at bringing traditional financial products on-chain and expanding their utility across digital asset markets.&nbsp;
Together, the two firms plan to develop actively managed investment products built on blockchain infrastructure, making strategies from one of the world's largest asset managers tradeable on-chain for the first time.&nbsp;
They will also work on tokenized yield-focused products designed for institutional clients and, where permitted, Kraken's broader retail user base.&nbsp;
Payward also&nbsp;recently<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260508275521/en/Payward-Files-Application-for-OCC-National-Trust-Company-Deepening-Commitment-to-Regulated-Digital-Asset-Infrastructure" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">&nbsp;filed</a>&nbsp;with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust company charter.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/innovation/kraken-expands-beyond-crypto-offers-u-s-stocks-and-etfs-trading-commission-free" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Kraken expands beyond crypto, offers U.S. stocks and ETFs trading commission-free</a>

Popular exchange reportedly lays off ahead of IPO

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