When a crypto exchange spends $600 million to buy payments infrastructure that combines card networks, banking rails, and stablecoin settlement into a single API, you’re watching a strategic shift from trading platform to financial infrastructure provider.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has entered a definitive agreement to pay up to $600 million for Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies. The transaction is a mix of cash and stock and values Payward’s equity at $20 billion.
Reap is a stablecoin-native card issuing and payments infrastructure platform. The company has built a stack that connects traditional financial systems with digital assets, enabling businesses to move money globally with greater speed, transparency, and efficiency.
This marks Payward’s second major acquisition in a matter of weeks.
What Reap Actually Does
Reap’s platform integrates card networks, traditional finance rails, and stablecoin-native settlement into a single API-driven infrastructure.
The platform supports corporate card issuing, card programmes, cross-border payouts, and treasury management.
That combination is what makes the deal significant. Reap built a system that handles card networks, traditional rails, and stablecoin settlement through one API.
How This Expands Payward Services
Reap will expand Payward Services, the company’s B2B infrastructure platform. Payward Services already offers partners crypto trading, custody, tokenized assets, on/off-ramps, and derivatives.
Adding Reap’s capabilities means partners using Payward Services can now access card issuance, cross-border payments, and stablecoin-powered treasury services alongside the existing crypto and trading infrastructure.
The Regulatory Footprint Combination
The acquisition creates a complementary global regulatory footprint for both companies.
Reap’s existing licenses accelerate Payward’s expansion across APAC and the Americas. Payward’s EU and US licenses open new corridors for Reap.
That regulatory complementarity allows the merged entity to offer services across regions through combined licensing positions.
Arjun Sethi on the Strategy
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward, framed the acquisition around infrastructure positioning.
“Reap is the payments layer for what comes next. Card networks, banking rails, and blockchains on a single API, settling in stablecoins. The infrastructure for that world has to be open, regulated, and operational at global scale on Day 1.”
Sethi added: “The next financial product will not be assembled. It will be deployed.”
That framing positions the acquisition as building infrastructure for a future where financial products combine traditional payment rails with blockchain settlement, accessed through unified APIs.
The Acquisition Strategy in Context
The Reap deal is the latest in Payward’s strategy to diversify its product offering and expand its geographic reach.
Last month, Payward struck a $550 million deal to buy Bitnomial, a fully CFTC-licensed derivatives platform built for digital assets. Before that, it paid $1.5 billion for retail futures platform NinjaTrader.
Three major acquisitions. Three different capabilities. Each one expanding what Payward can offer through its platform.
What This Means Together
The Reap acquisition expands Payward Services into card issuance and cross-border payments. Combined with Payward’s existing capabilities, the platform now covers trading, custody, tokenized assets, on/off-ramps, derivatives, card issuance, cross-border payments, and stablecoin treasury services.
For Payward, the strategy is building comprehensive financial infrastructure that partners can access through a single integration. The Reap acquisition fills the payments and card issuance gap in that stack.
The next phase is execution – integrating Reap’s infrastructure into Payward Services and demonstrating that the combined platform delivers on the unified infrastructure positioning Sethi described.
