Kraken Deepens Asia Push With Reap Acquisition

Payward Pays $600 Million for Hong Kong Payments Firm

@krakenfx parent company Payward Inc. has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies for $600 million in a combination of cash and stock. The deal values Payward shares at roughly $20 billion, with co-CEO Arjun Sethi confirming the terms to Bloomberg.

Reap specializes in stablecoin-native payment infrastructure for businesses, including cross-border settlements, treasury tools, and corporate card services tied to fiat and digital assets. The company operates across Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, and emerging market corridors spanning Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Reap CEO and co-founder Daren Guo noted the company nearly tripled revenue and volumes in 2025, and expanded its regulated business from Asia to South America.

Reap fits into a B2B infrastructure platform that Payward launched this year, which offers stablecoin payments, digital-asset trading, and lending services to fintechs, banks, brokerages, and businesses that accept cryptocurrency payments. The company also participates in the Global Dollar Network, aligning with Kraken's broader push into stablecoin settlement and embedded finance.

Part of a Broader Acquisition Run

The deal marks Payward's first infrastructure acquisition in Asia and its third-largest overall. It lands days after Payward closed its acquisition of CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange Bitnomial for up to $550 million, following last year's $1.5 billion purchase of retail futures platform NinjaTrader, the largest crypto-TradFi acquisition on record at the time.

The Reap deal comes as Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi says the company is about 80% ready for an IPO and is targeting rapid expansion in both Asia and the United States. Sethi told Bloomberg: "If you take Europe out, the fastest growing market is Asia, not just revenue but also asset-on-platform. They have already done it in Asia. They can expand into the US overnight with us."

Hong Kong and Singapore have become the most permissive regulated markets for crypto in the world, with licensing frameworks that allow exchanges, custodians, and payments companies to operate with a clarity that the US and EU still lack for some product categories. The transaction is signed but still subject to regulatory approvals in jurisdictions including Hong Kong and Singapore.

Sources:
CoinDesk: Kraken to buy stablecoin payments firm Reap in $600 million deal
The Block: Kraken parent Payward to acquire Hong Kong stablecoin firm Reap for $600 million
Decrypt: Kraken Parent Acquires Asian Stablecoin Firm Reap for $600 Million