Kraken parent Payward has entered talks with BNY over a potential partnership spanning six areas: crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and financial infrastructure, according to COINOTAG.

The services under discussion could be delivered through Payward Services, the Wyoming-based company's unit. The partnership is described as potential, with no definitive agreement announced.

Background on Payward and Kraken

Payward is the parent company of Kraken, one of the longest-running and most widely used cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Kraken was founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell and began facilitating trades in 2013. In 2021, the company relocated its US headquarters to Cheyenne, Wyoming, a state that has positioned itself among the most crypto-friendly jurisdictions in the United States. Kraken's banking subsidiary, Kraken Financial, became the first Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI) chartered in Wyoming in 2020.

BNY's Digital Asset Track Record

BNY, formally The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, is one of the world's largest custodian banks, tracing its roots to 1784 and safeguarding tens of trillions of dollars in client assets. The bank launched institutional digital asset custody services in 2022 and was named custodian for several US spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds that began trading in January 2024.

Context

Bitcoin (BTC) is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and institutional custody has become a core focus for both banks and crypto-native firms seeking to safeguard digital assets for professional investors. The talks between Payward and BNY come as established financial institutions have steadily built out digital asset capabilities in recent years, spanning custody, trading and fund administration.

Both parties arrive at the discussions with digital asset infrastructure already in place: BNY through its institutional custody platform and its custodian roles for US spot Bitcoin ETFs, Payward through Kraken Financial's Wyoming SPDI charter The reported scope is also notable for its breadth — six service lines rather than a single custody mandate. With no definitive agreement announced, the talks remain at the discussion stage; further concrete detail would come from any formal announcement by the companies, including which of the six service areas would be delivered through Payward Services.

This content was first published on COINOTAG: https://en.coinotag.com/payward-bny-talks-bitcoin-custody-six-areas