Payward weighs bank charter outside the US to broaden Kraken's services
Regulation & Gov ·
Kraken's parent company is examining a path to full banking status in jurisdictions outside the United States, a move that would let it widen its footprint across trading, payments, lending, custody and asset management.
According to The Block, Payward is looking at obtaining a complete banking license rather than the narrower charters crypto firms typically pursue, a step that would put it on more equal footing with conventional financial institutions in the markets where it operates. Corroborating coverage in the same cluster describes the effort as reaching toward lending, asset management, and potentially mortgage products, suggesting the ambition goes beyond simply holding client deposits.
The push fits a pattern of Kraken building out infrastructure that resembles a regulated financial institution rather than a standalone exchange. The company has already secured a US state banking charter and registered as an investment firm in Europe, moves aimed at making crypto trading operate more like traditional brokerage. A full bank license abroad would extend that logic internationally, potentially letting Payward offer services — such as custody and payments — under a single regulatory umbrella instead of assembling them through separate licenses market by market.
The banking exploration comes as Kraken has been layering on other institutional and retail capabilities. The exchange recently won its first crypto Fed master account in the US, even as banks and lawmakers raised concerns about systemic risk tied to such access. It has also been expanding into new markets and products, including spot trading for the Quai Network and a gamified loyalty system called Ink Points. On the corporate side, Deutsche Börse took a $200 million stake in Kraken at a $13.3 billion valuation — 33% below the company's prior funding round — and Payward agreed to acquire Magic Labs' embedded wallet business, which has created over 60 million wallets, according to background compiled at leviathan.news.
Kraken has also had to manage security scrutiny alongside its expansion plans, saying no systems were breached and client funds remained safe after an extortion attempt.
Not yet disclosed are which specific jurisdictions Payward is targeting for a bank charter, the timeline for any application, or how a full banking license would interact with the US state charter and European registration the company already holds. Whether regulators in the countries under consideration would grant crypto-native firms such broad banking powers also remains an open question.