Payward Inc., the parent company of the Kraken crypto exchange, wants to own a bank. Specifically, a European one.
Co-CEO Arjun Sethi disclosed the plan in an interview with CoinDesk on September 26, 2026. He did not name the target.
What Payward has said, and what it hasn’t
The core fact is simple. Payward intends to purchase a bank somewhere in Europe.
Almost everything beyond that remains unconfirmed. The bank’s name has not been made public, and neither have the terms of any deal.
As of mid-October 2026, no definitive agreement had been announced. Any transaction would also need regulatory approval before it could close.
There is one strong hint about where Payward may be looking. Bloomberg reported in July 2026 that the company was in talks to buy a bank in Lithuania.
Payward has not confirmed that Lithuania is the destination. Still, the reporting lines up neatly with Sethi’s later comments about a European purchase.
A Lithuanian bank could let Payward lean on that country’s regulatory framework. That, in turn, could help the company build out its operations across the European Economic Area.
A year of very large shopping receipts
The bank plan does not come out of nowhere. Payward has been on an acquisition run throughout the year.
It paid $1.5 billion for NinjaTrader, a US futures brokerage. That deal brought a traditional derivatives business under the same roof as a crypto exchange.
It also paid $550 million for Bitnomial. Then it committed an investment of up to $600 million in Reap, a company focused on stablecoin-powered payments.
The bigger plan: one platform for everything
Payward’s stated ambition is an integrated financial infrastructure platform covering trading, banking, payments, and institutional services.
The vehicle for that vision is the Payward Services platform. The company wants it to span trading, banking, asset management, and business-to-business services.
Owning a bank outright would give Payward more direct control over that experience. Relying on partner banks means depending on someone else’s appetite for crypto clients, which has historically been inconsistent.
What this means for Payward and the industry
There are real risks. Integrating several large acquisitions in a single year is difficult, and adding a regulated bank on top raises the compliance stakes considerably.
The things to watch are concrete. First, whether Payward names the bank, and whether it is the Lithuanian lender Bloomberg reported on in July.
Second, the deal terms, including price and structure, which have not been disclosed. Third, the regulatory review, which will determine whether this plan becomes an actual bank or stays an interview soundbite.
Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.