Kraken revenue tops $507m as derivatives surge

Kraken revenue rose 3% year-on-year to $507m in Q1 2026 as futures trading jumped 51%, Payward said Monday.

Summary

• Payward posted $507m in Q1 2026 adjusted revenue, up 3% year-on-year, despite Bitcoin falling 22% during the quarter and industry-wide spot volumes dropping 38%.
• Futures daily average revenue trades rose 51%, driven by NinjaTrader, Breakout, and expanded derivatives offerings from the recently completed Bitnomial acquisition.
• Adjusted EBITDA fell to $18m as Payward continued spending on acquisitions, product development, and regulatory infrastructure ahead of a planned IPO.

Payward, Kraken’s Wyoming-based parent company, said in a Monday press release that it generated $507 million in Q1 2026 adjusted revenue, up 3% from the same quarter a year earlier. Bitcoin fell 22% during the quarter and industry-wide spot trading volume dropped 38%, yet Payward’s diversified platform cushioned the decline.

A year earlier, Payward had reported $492 million in Q1 2025 adjusted revenue, making the 3% year-on-year gain notable given the steeper market downturn this cycle.

Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the release: “Where others pulled back, we leaned in.” Growth in futures and newer business lines offset weakness in core crypto markets, with Kraken’s spot market share rising to 5.2% in March from roughly 3.5% in mid-2025.

Kraken revenue beats rivals through diversification

Rival platforms reported sharper declines in trading revenue over the same period. Payward attributed its resilience to its stronger institutional business and growing derivatives offering, built partly through its $550 million acquisition of CFTC-licensed platform Bitnomial, which crypto.news covered when the deal completed on May 4.

Total platform transaction volume reached $357 billion in Q1, while funded accounts rose 47% year-on-year to 6.1 million and assets on platform reached $40 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA fell to $18 million as Payward continued investing in acquisitions including tokenization platform Backed, token management firm Magna, Bitnomial, and payments company Reap.

Crypto.news reported that non-trading revenue sources including custody, payments, and financing accounted for 53% of Payward’s 2025 total, a structural shift that reduces dependence on volatile trading volumes.

What Payward’s IPO delay means

Payward filed its draft S-1 with the SEC confidentially in November 2025 but paused the process in March, citing market conditions. Sources indicate a public listing may slip to 2027. The exchange also cut approximately 150 employees in May, attributing the reductions to AI-driven operational efficiencies, representing roughly 5% of its total workforce.

Payward’s M&A push positions it as the most comprehensively regulated crypto derivatives platform in the US. Crypto.news documented how the Bitnomial deal and Deutsche Börse’s $200 million stake established Payward as a regulated hub for digital asset futures and options inside the US, with its IPO filing remaining active.