Acquisition will extend Payward’s globally regulated superinfrastructure into the global cards and payments space

Payward, Inc., a unified financial infrastructure platform advancing an open, global financial system, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Reap Technologies Holdings Limited ("Reap"), a leading stablecoin-native, card issuing and payments infrastructure company enabling global money movement, for up to $600 million payable in a mix of cash and Payward stock, in a transaction that values Payward’s equity at $20 billion. The acquisition expands Payward Services, the company's B2B infrastructure platform, unlocking globally regulated infrastructure for card issuance and stablecoin payments.

Payward Services gives partners a single integration point for the infrastructure they need to build always-on financial products — covering crypto trading, custody, tokenized assets, on/off-ramps, and derivatives. Reap extends that platform into the global cards and payments space. Partners will be able to embed card issuance, cross-border payments, and stablecoin treasury services alongside Payward's existing capabilities, without assembling multiple vendors or managing fragmented infrastructure. The acquisition of Reap follows Payward’s acquisitions of NinjaTrader, Bitnomial, and Backed, and continues its strategy of expanding the platform through capability-focused transactions.

Reap has built a card issuing and cross-border payments stack that connects traditional financial systems with digital assets, enabling businesses to move money globally with greater speed, transparency, and efficiency. Its platform integrates card networks, traditional finance rails, and stablecoin-native settlement into a single API-driven infrastructure, supporting corporate card issuing, card programs, cross-border payouts, and treasury management. The acquisition comes as stablecoin adoption accelerates globally, with businesses increasingly using stablecoins for payments, treasury management, and cross-border settlement.

"Finance is moving in one direction. Continuous markets. Programmable money. Autonomous execution. Stablecoins are the settlement substrate. AI agents are the new participants. We see the inflection on our own platform: Krak shipped to 110 countries on Day 1, xStocks crossed $29 billion in cumulative volume in its first year, 1,900 B2B partners run on Payward's shared infrastructure today," said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward. "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. The next financial product will not be assembled. It will be deployed."

"Stablecoins in card payments are one of the largest real world applications today and Reap is proud to be leading the way. With the global stablecoin and crypto card market now exceeding $18 billion annually, Reap nearly tripled revenue and volumes in 2025, and expanded our licensing footprint from Asia to South America," said Daren Guo, Co-Founder and CEO of Reap. "What’s next is for us to connect stablecoin cards and payments to a full suite of crypto-native financial services to power scale, regulatory reach, and distribution for our clients. Joining Payward was a natural step to accelerate the future of finance and build category-disrupting offerings in web3, agentic commerce and more."

The acquisition creates a complementary global regulatory footprint to drive the expansion of both businesses. Reap's existing licenses accelerate Payward's expansion across APAC and the Americas, while Payward's EU and US licenses open new corridors for Reap in Europe and US markets. Together, the two businesses are positioned to extend stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure into high-growth markets across MENA and Latin America.

Reap's card issuing and cross-border payment capabilities will be made available to Payward Services partners, alongside access to Payward's global liquidity, custody, and settlement infrastructure. Reap will continue to operate as a standalone platform within the Payward ecosystem, maintaining its leadership team led by Daren Guo, along with its brand and go-to-market approach, while benefiting from Payward's global infrastructure and regulatory footprint.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Advisors

PJT Partners served as financial advisor and Jones Day served as legal advisor to Payward. CRB Securities and Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. served as financial advisors and Latham & Watkins served as legal advisors to Reap.

About Payward

Payward, Inc. is a unified financial infrastructure platform that powers a family of products advancing an open, global financial system. Built on a single shared architecture, Payward enables customers to hold, trade, earn, pay, and invest across asset classes without friction or fragmentation.

At its core, Payward provides the infrastructure layer behind Kraken and a growing set of purpose-built products, including NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Bitnomial, and CF Benchmarks.

Payward separates infrastructure from product expression. Each product surface is designed for a specific customer segment, regulatory regime, and use case, while operating on the same global foundation:

One global liquidity pool
One unified risk and margin engine
One collateral and settlement system
One compliance and licensing framework

This shared architecture allows Payward to scale efficiently, launch new products at low marginal cost, and serve diverse global markets while maintaining consistent risk management, regulatory integrity, and operational resilience.

For more information about Payward, please visit www.payward.com.

About Reap

Reap is a global financial technology company that enables financial connectivity and access for businesses worldwide through stablecoin-native infrastructure. We transform the financial landscape through more efficient money movement by merging traditional finance with digital assets, bridging disparate economies and connecting key financial markets.

Reap was an early leader in Asia to incorporate stablecoins into our solutions. In 2025, Reap processed billions in stablecoin-funded transaction flows. From stablecoin-enabled corporate cards to cross-border payments, we streamline financial operations and empower companies to scale with our integrated business accounts and embedded finance solutions.

Founded and headquartered in Hong Kong, Reap employs over 200 people worldwide.

More information about Reap can be found at reap.global.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260507546580/en/

Press Contact
Lauren Post
press@kraken.com

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