Kraken’s parent firm, Payward, has completed its acquisition of Bitnomial, securing a full set of US derivatives licenses and setting the stage for regulated crypto trading products.
According to a company statement released Friday, the deal gives Payward, the parent of Kraken, control of three key registrations under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including a Futures Commission Merchant, a Designated Contract Market, and a Derivatives Clearing Organisation.
Those approvals allow a single entity to operate an exchange, clear trades, and offer brokerage services within a regulated framework.
Bitnomial had spent over a decade securing these permissions, and prior disclosures from Payward noted that no other crypto-native firm in the US holds all three simultaneously.
Rollout of derivatives stack begins with margin products
In outlining the next steps, Arjun Sethi said the company will begin by introducing spot margin trading on Kraken, with perpetual contracts and options planned later.
He described the combined infrastructure as the base layer required to support more advanced derivatives products.
Company materials state that the newly integrated structure will allow Payward to offer CFTC-regulated spot margin, perpetuals, and options to eligible US clients across Kraken and its trading platform, NinjaTrader.
Bitnomial, a Chicago-based exchange, will continue operating within Payward while keeping its licenses, regulatory setup, and third-party business relationships intact.
Payward said it plans to expand the team as it builds out its domestic derivatives operations.
Acquisition ties into IPO plans and institutional push
Earlier disclosures from Payward indicated the transaction could reach up to $550 million in cash and stock, with an implied company valuation of $20 billion.
The firm did not provide final deal terms upon closing.
April filings and public remarks from Sethi confirmed that Payward has already submitted a confidential draft S-1 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission as part of preparations for a potential public listing.
He said at the time that timing would depend on market conditions and regulatory trust rather than short-term policy changes.
A $200 million investment from Deutsche Börse Group, disclosed earlier this month, gave the German exchange operator a 1.5% stake in Payward and valued the company at $13.3 billion.
Company statements said the partnership is intended to connect digital asset markets with traditional financial infrastructure for institutional clients.
Payward has linked the Bitnomial acquisition to that strategy, noting that banks, brokerages, and payment firms will be able to access regulated US crypto derivatives through a unified system.
The firm already operates derivatives platforms in the UK following a 2019 acquisition and launched regulated offerings in the European Union in 2025.
Financial disclosures from April show Payward generated $2.2 billion in revenue in 2025, a 33% increase year over year, while processing roughly $2 trillion in transactions and holding over $48 billion in customer assets at the end of the year.
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