Payward, the parent company of the Kraken exchange, plans to buy a bank in Europe, according to co-CEO Arjun Sethi. The target and the deal terms have not been disclosed, and any transaction would need regulatory approval.
Payward Inc. intends to purchase a bank somewhere in Europe. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi disclosed the plan in an interview with CoinDesk on September 26, 2026, and he did not name the target.
What Payward has not confirmed
The bank's name and the terms of any deal remain unpublished. As of mid-October 2026, no definitive agreement had been announced, and a transaction would need regulatory approval before it could close.
Bloomberg reported in July 2026 that the company was in talks to buy a bank in Lithuania. Payward has not confirmed that Lithuania is the destination. A Lithuanian bank could let Payward lean on that country's regulatory framework, which could help it build out operations across the European Economic Area.
A year of large acquisitions
The bank plan follows an acquisition run through the year. Payward paid $1.5 billion for NinjaTrader, a US futures brokerage, which put a traditional derivatives business under the same roof as a crypto exchange.
It also paid $550 million for Bitnomial. Then it committed up to $600 million to Reap, a company focused on stablecoin-powered payments.
One platform for trading, banking and payments
Payward's stated ambition is an integrated financial infrastructure platform covering trading, banking, payments and institutional services. The Payward Services platform is the vehicle for that vision, and the company wants it to span trading, banking, asset management and business-to-business services.
Owning a bank would give Payward more direct control over that experience. Relying on partner banks means depending on their appetite for crypto clients, which has historically been inconsistent.
Integrating several large acquisitions in a single year is difficult, and a regulated bank raises the compliance stakes. The next markers are whether Payward names the bank, what price and structure the deal carries, and how the regulatory review turns out.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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