Kraken Parent Payward Posts $60M Q3 EBITDA, Down 66% Year Over Year

Kraken's parent company Payward reported $60 million in third-quarter adjusted EBITDA on Friday, up from $23 million in the second quarter but down roughly two-thirds from the $178.6 million posted a year earlier. The private company disclosed the figures in its quarterly financial highlights, which also showed a 12% year-over-year decline in total platform margin, the revenue measure Payward now prefers.

The $60 million result means Payward earned about a third of what it generated in the same quarter of 2024 — a contraction of nearly $119 million in twelve months. Sequentially, however, the picture improved: adjusted EBITDA nearly tripled from the second quarter's $23 million.

Payward has replaced its former "adjusted revenue" metric with what it calls "total platform margin," which also deducts staking rewards paid to customers. That measure reached $487 million in Q3, up from $436 million in Q2 but down 12% from a year earlier. The shift in metric invites caution: when a company changes how it measures its own top line, year-over-year comparisons become less reliable, not more.

What do the trading volumes show?

Customers transacted $353 billion across Payward's platforms during the quarter. Volume rose 22% from the second quarter but fell 30% year over year — meaning Payward handled roughly $150 billion less in quarterly turnover than it did in Q3 2024.

User growth partially offset the volume decline. Payward ended September with 7.1 million funded accounts, up 7% from Q2 and 37% year over year. Billable accounts stood at 1.5 million, a 9% sequential increase and a 74% annual gain. In plain terms, more customers are on the platform, but each is transacting far less than a year ago.

Which new products are on the roadmap?

Prediction markets for U.S. clients rank among the next launches on Payward's roadmap. Chief Commercial Officer Mark Greenberg discussed a possible rollout on CNBC last December, though Friday's update offered no launch date — a gap worth noting, since competitive pressure in that segment has only intensified.

The company also plans to:

• Offer stock perpetual futures through its own CFTC-regulated exchange, clearinghouse, and broker
• Build apps for local markets and let customers share collateral across products in a single account
• Settle U.S. dollar wires through its Federal Reserve master account
• Test a U.S. credit card
• Fund lending in Europe with customer deposits

On Wednesday, Payward added more than 200 tokenized UK and European equities to its xStocks product. That platform surpassed $1 billion in assets under management in October, and Payward said it is developing funds built around xStocks. It also plans to launch xPO, which would let private companies raise capital by issuing shares onchain — subject to regulatory approval, a caveat that could define the timeline.

How deep does the AI push go?

Kraken AI is already live in the U.S. app, where clients buy, sell, convert and stake through chat and approve transactions. Kraken Pro carries an assistant and a strategy builder. Next on the plan is a separate AI agent for personal finance, operating within limits set by customers, who would approve each trade or workflow before it runs.

The approval requirement is the operative safeguard; without it, an agent executing financial workflows would raise unresolved liability questions. In plain words: Payward is automating the interface but keeping the human in the loop for now.

The quarter's core question remains unanswered. Growth in accounts and a rebound from Q2 suggest stabilization, but the 66% annual EBITDA decline shows a business still well below its 2024 run rate. Whether xPO clears regulatory review, and when U.S. prediction markets actually launch, will say more about Payward's 2026 trajectory than any single quarter's figures.