Kraken Parent Payward to Acquire Lithuania’s Saldo Bank in European Expansion
Key Takeaways
- •Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is acquiring Lithuania-based Saldo Bank to expand into lending and card issuing, with the undisclosed-price deal expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory approval.
- •The acquisition would make Payward the first digital asset company to acquire a bank in Europe, building on Saldo's EU banking license received in 2021.
- •Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said Payward plans to bring cash, crypto, tokenized stocks, and credit into one system, enabling customers to borrow and lend against assets without selling them.
- •Payward applied in May for a national trust company charter from the OCC as the Independent Community Bankers of America sues the regulator over charters granted to crypto firms like Coinbase and Ripple.
- •The Saldo transaction follows Payward's $550 million purchase of Bitnomial in April and $600 million acquisition of Reap Technologies in May, while Kraken's IPO has been pushed back to the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is acquiring Lithuania-based Saldo Bank as it expands into lending and card issuing, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The price was not disclosed, and the transaction remains subject to regulatory approval. It is expected to close in 2027.
According to the FT, Payward is the first digital asset company to acquire a bank in Europe. Saldo received its European Union banking license in 2021 and offers consumer and business loans as well as term deposits, according to its license record. Those existing banking activities provide the foundation for Payward's stated expansion into lending and other services typically associated with traditional banks, subject to regulatory approval of the transaction.
Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the acquisition is intended to give Kraken customers access to services that are typically associated with traditional banks.
“One of the biggest things that our customers have been asking us is ‘I would like to get products and services and offerings similar to what I get with another bank,’” Sethi told the FT.
Sethi said Payward plans to bring cash, crypto, tokenized stocks and credit together in a single system. Customers would be able to borrow and lend against their assets without selling them, he said.
Crypto trust charters in the U.S.
The deal comes as a U.S. community banking group is suing the federal bank regulator over trust charters granted to crypto companies. Payward, which is based in Wyoming and was founded in 2011, applied in May for a national trust company charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC.
Coinbase and Ripple are among the crypto companies that have received conditional approval for such charters. The charters allow firms to hold customers’ assets and provide transaction services, but do not allow them to accept deposits.
This month, the Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC, arguing that granting the charters to crypto firms exceeds the regulator’s authority.
“Any non-fiduciary firm seeking the benefits of a federal bank charter should meet the same standards as community banks,” ICBA President and CEO Rebecca Romero Rainey said in a statement. An OCC spokesperson declined to comment.
The Saldo transaction follows Payward’s $550 million acquisition of derivatives exchange Bitnomial in April and its $600 million purchase of Asian stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies in May.
Kraken confidentially filed for an initial public offering last November. However, it has since pushed the listing back to the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest, CoinDesk reported in September, citing people familiar with the matter.
Original report: Decrypt.
