Payward Targets 2027 IPO While Tokenizing Global Equities for Exchanges

Kraken's parent company is facilitating the move of shares from three major exchange groups onto blockchain technology while postponing its own public listing. Payward now expects an IPO no earlier than the second quarter of 2027.

A confidential draft registration was submitted by Payward in November 2025. The process was put on hold in March 2026. According to sources familiar with the matter, 2027 is now the target.

Infrastructure for Wall Street Built by Kraken

An agreement was reached on September 1 for Payward to tokenize the top 100 companies listed in London. These will be issued as xStocks, with each token backed by a corresponding real share. Investors across more than 110 countries will have access to the tokenized London stock initiative, though UK residents and US persons are excluded.

Payward and the London Stock Exchange are partnering to advance the tokenization of UK equity markets.

In the coming weeks, the 100 largest London-listed equities will go live as xStocks, bringing 24/7, programmable onchain access to investors in more than 110 countries.…

— Payward (@Payward) September 1, 2026

Trading of these tokens on LSE 24, the London Stock Exchange's around-the-clock venue, is planned once regulatory approvals are secured. Payward has reported $40 billion in xStocks volume since June 2025 and over 200,000 holders.

A comparable arrangement was signed by Nasdaq in March. The exchange is developing a bridge with Payward to enable tokenized shares to move between regulated trading venues and public blockchains. This launch is slated for the first half of 2027.

A $200 million investment in April gave Deutsche Börse a roughly 1.5% stake. Even Hyperliquid may gain access to US traders through this kind of setup.

Delaying the Kraken IPO Is Justified

The April transaction implies a valuation of approximately $13.3 billion. Payward raised $800 million in November at a $20 billion valuation during a funding round led by Jane Street and Citadel Securities. After Wall Street purchased the infrastructure, the valuation was marked down by about one-third.

The trading operations explain the hesitation. Second-quarter adjusted revenue increased 17% to $508 million. Adjusted EBITDA dropped 71% year over year to $23 million. Trading volume on the platform fell 18% to $310 billion.

Acquisitions continued for Payward despite a stalled year for crypto IPOs. The purchase of derivatives venue Bitnomial was completed in May, finishing a US regulated derivatives stack that can now be leased out.

“The industry around us is consolidating. We built this company so that is when we compound fastest,” Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward, in the company’s quarterly letter.

The listing is never mentioned in that letter. The infrastructure is being built for other markets first. Whether public investors will pay for infrastructure instead of trading fees remains an unresolved question.