Key Highlights
- Payward reported $507 million in adjusted revenue in Q1 2026, growing 3% year-over-year despite weak crypto market conditions.
- Trading activity slowed across the industry, but Payward still grew its position, with Kraken’s spot market share rising from 3.5% to 5.2%.
- The company expanded through acquisitions, including Backed Finance, Magna, Bitnomial, and Reap Technologies.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, today reported $507 million in adjusted revenue for the first quarter of 2026, despite weaker trading conditions across the cryptocurrency market.
According to the official release, the company said the results reflect continued growth in products, services, and acquisitions as it expands beyond spot crypto trading into derivatives, tokenized assets, and payments infrastructure.
Market conditions and revenue performance
During the quarter, Payward said total trading volume on its platform reached $357 billion. Market conditions were on red, with Bitdown dropping by about 22%, and the total crypto market falling by about 23%. In addition, overall spot trading volume in the industry has also fallen about 38%.
Still, Payward held strong. Kraken’s spot share increased from about 3.5% in mid 2025 to 5.2% in March 2026.
The company also said it kept about 59% of its peak trading volume compared to earlier cycles, which was higher than many competitors. Futures trading was one of the stronger areas, with Futures DARTs rising 51% due to growth from platforms like NinjaTrader and Breakout and the expansion of futures products.
Earnings, users, and platform growth
Payward also shared that its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (Adjusted EBITDA) are around $18 million. The company stated that this lower profit level was intentional because it continued to spend on new products, technology, and regulation systems instead of focusing on short-term earnings.
“We’re not optimizing for today’s EBITDA. We’re building what we believe wins tomorrow,” said Arjun Sethi, the Co-CEO of Payward.
The firm now has about $40 billion worth of assets on the platform, which has grown by 11% from the previous year, or much excluding price effects, while funded accounts rose 47% to 6.1 million.
Expanding ecosystem via acquisitions and new products
During the quarter, Payward expanded its reach through acquisitions. In January 2026, it bought Backed Finance to expand tokenized stocks. In February, the company acquired Magna, a platform used to manage token distribution and lifecycle tasks like vesting and claims.
In April, Payward acquired Bitnomial, a US-regulated derivatives company with key licenses, which helps the company grow in the United States market. It also agreed to acquire Reap Technologies, a payments company that connects stablecoins with card networks and traditional finance systems.
The company also introduced new products such as stock trading on Kraken Desktop, futures markets for oil, gold, and stock indexes, yield products, and expanded margin trading. It also grew its tokenized equities product called xStocks, which aims to expand to more than 500 assets. It also continues to invest in building a full financial system that connects trading, settlement, and payments in one place.
Payward said it completed its quarterly Proof of Reserves as of March 31, 2026, allowing users to check that customer funds are fully backed using onchain verification reviewed by an independent accounting firm.
Looking forward
Payward said that its goal from here is to build a system that supports all asset classes and market conditions through one connected platform. It also emphasized long-term growth, resilience, and steady expansion across global regulated and emerging markets through technology and infrastructure investment, and overall outlook.
The earnings report comes shortly after Kraken reduced its workforce by about 150 employees as the company prepares for a potential public listing.
Also Read: Kraken Switches from LayerZero to Chainlink CCIP to Power kBTC
