Kraken Acquires Stablecoin Payments Firm Reap in $600M Deal

Kraken parent company Payward has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies in a $600 million cash-and-stock deal, expanding its stablecoin and payments infrastructure across Asia.

Reap provides cross-border and business payments infrastructure that connects traditional financial systems with digital assets, focusing heavily on stablecoin-powered settlement and B2B payment flows.

The acquisition is Kraken's third-largest to date and values Payward stock at $20 billion.

Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi noted Asia is the fastest-growing market for the exchange, both in revenue and assets on the platform.

This deal follows Payward's April acquisition of derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million.

On Tuesday, Sethi said Kraken is "about 80% ready" for an IPO, as the company also rolls out a new partnership with MoneyGram to bridge the crypto-to-cash gap.