Kraken Parent Payward's Q3 Earnings Fall 67% as Trading Volumes Slide

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, generated $60 million in adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter, a 67% decline from roughly $182 million a year earlier, according to a shareholder letter reviewed by Bloomberg News on November 13. Total platform transaction volume fell 30% year over year to $353 billion, and the company's total platform margin — its replacement metric for adjusted revenue — dropped 12% to $487 million.

The quarterly figure, however, marks a recovery from an even weaker second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA rose 163% quarter over quarter, and total platform margin grew 12%. The annual decline and the sequential rebound tell different stories, and the company leaned on the second. Customer growth stayed positive: funded accounts, defined as customers holding a balance above zero, climbed 37% from a year earlier to 7.1 million.

In plain words: the exchange is adding customers while each customer trades considerably less.

Why did earnings fall so sharply?

The earnings compression reflects a sector-wide slowdown in trading activity, the primary fee engine for exchanges. Bitcoin rallied roughly 40% between mid-August and early October before reversing; it recently slipped below $70,000 as inflation concerns, higher bond yields, and the US midterm elections weighed on sentiment.

The damage has not been uniform across competitors. Coinbase reported a 35% annual revenue decline in the third quarter but returned to profitability. Gemini Space Station recorded a 19% revenue drop while narrowing its losses against the same period last year. Payward's 67% earnings decline is steeper than either peer's top-line contraction, though EBITDA and revenue are not directly comparable measures.

The takeaway is straightforward: fee-dependent exchanges remain hostage to trading volumes they do not control.

How is Payward diversifying beyond spot trading?

The company has pursued acquisitions and new product lines to reduce its reliance on conventional crypto trading, and tokenized equities have become its most visible bet. Earlier this week, Payward added more than 200 tokenized stocks from UK and European markets, including FTSE 100 and DAX 40 listings. The expansion lifted its xStocks ecosystem past 1,500 assets, with more than $1.1 billion in assets under management and cumulative transaction volume above $45 billion — all figures supplied by the company and not independently verified.

Its banking ambitions advanced as well. In October, Payward agreed to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, the Finnish parent of Lithuania-licensed Saldo Bank. The deal, expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory approval, would hand Payward deposit accounts, lending services, and payment cards across several European markets. In the Middle East, Payward secured full approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in October and plans to launch crypto trading, local-currency deposits, and withdrawals in the UAE.

Each expansion carries execution risk; the Saldo acquisition, in particular, remains subject to a regulatory green light that is never guaranteed.

What about the token, prediction markets, and the IPO?

In its shareholder letter, Payward disclosed intentions to enter prediction markets and eventually launch a proprietary token. The company offered no timeline, no tokenomics, and no operational detail for either initiative — an announcement of intent rather than a product plan, and readers should treat it accordingly.

Separately, Kraken is preparing to offer onchain perpetual futures to US customers, subject to regulatory approval, extending its derivatives business beyond conventional crypto trading.

The public listing remains unresolved. As previously reported in September, Payward could postpone its initial public offering until at least the second quarter of 2027 after market conditions disrupted earlier plans. The company confidentially filed a draft registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2025 and previously raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation. It cut roughly 150 employees earlier this year, citing efficiency gains from adopting artificial intelligence across operations.

The bottom line: Payward must show by mid-2027 — the earliest plausible IPO window — that tokenized stocks, banking, and new products can replace the fee income that a 30% volume decline erased.