Kraken to buy stablecoin payments firm Reap in $600 million deal: Bloomberg

Kraken owner Payward will acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies as the crypto exchange expands its stablecoin and payments infrastructure business in Asia.

What to know:

• Kraken parent Payward agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal that values Payward at $20 billion and marks Kraken’s first infrastructure acquisition in Asia.
• Reap, founded by former Stripe Asia-Pacific lead Daren Guo and ex–investment banker Kevin Kang, provides cross-border business payments infrastructure that links traditional finance with digital assets, with a focus on stablecoin-powered settlement.
• The Reap deal follows Payward’s up-to-$550 million acquisition of U.S. derivatives platform Bitnomial and comes as Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi says the company is about 80% ready for an IPO and is targeting rapid expansion in both Asia and the United States.

Kraken parent company Payward agreed to acquire stablecoin-focused payments firm Reap Technologies in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjunt Sethi.

The acquisition values Payward stock at $20 billion and marks Kraken's first infrastructure acquisition in Asia, according to the report. Sethin told Bloomberg the deal is also the company’s third-largest to date.

Reap, based in Hong Kong, provides cross-border and business payments infrastructure that connects traditional financial systems with digital assets. The company focuses heavily on stablecoin-powered settlement and business-to-business payment flows.

“If you take Europe out, the fastest growing market is Asia, not just revenue but also asset-on-platform,” Sethi told Bloomberg. “They have already done it in Asia. They can expand into the US overnight with us.”

On Tuesday at Consensus Miami 2026, Sethi announced Kraken is “about 80% ready” to go public, highlighting the company’s initial public offering (IPO) plans as it rolls out a new partnership with MoneyGram aimed at solving crypto’s “last mile” problem.

The Reap deal announcement also follows Payward’s April 17 deal to acquire digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million, in a cash-and-stock transaction that values the firm at $20 billion. Bitnomial, founded over a decade ago, is the first crypto-native platform to secure all three licenses required to operate a full-stack derivatives business in the U.S. It has approvals to operate a designated contract market, a derivatives clearing organization and a futures commission merchant. The acquisition effectively shortcuts years of regulatory buildout for Payward as it expands its U.S. footprint.

The acquisition announced Thursday expands Kraken’s footprint in Asia, which has emerged as one of the fastest-growing regions for crypto adoption and stablecoin activity.

Reap was founded by Daren Guo, who previously launched Stripe’s Asia-Pacific business, and Kevin Kang, a former investment banker, according to the company’s website.

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