Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, recorded adjusted revenue of $508 million in the second quarter of 2026. This figure is up 17% compared to the $432 million achieved in the same period last year.
However, this increase in revenue stands in stark contrast to net profits. Their adjusted operating profit plummeted 71%, falling from $80 million in the second quarter of 2025 to just $23 million. This drop in profit occurred alongside an 18% decline in total transaction volume on the platform to $310 billion.
No Longer Just About Transaction Fees
Amid weakening trading volumes of crypto assets, Kraken pivoted its strategy by relying on other revenue streams. Its dependence on pure transaction fees is slowly fading. The company’s report shows that revenue from non-trading assets and services now holds a dominant 60% share of total revenue, up from a 55% share the previous year.
Secondary products have begun to support this shift in figures. Average daily revenue from futures trading rose by 8%. The tokenized equity line and traditional equity services also recorded positive growth throughout the second quarter.
This new focus demanded significant initial capital. On May 1, Payward officially closed a $550 million acquisition deal for Bitnomial to gain access to a suite of licensed derivative services in the United States. They also completed the takeover of Reap on July 1 and approved plans to purchase wallet infrastructure provider Magic Labs, although the latter transaction has not yet been finalized.
User Boom and Stalled Ambitions
The value of assets remaining within the Kraken ecosystem is considered to remain high. Currently, there are $40 billion in assets residing on the platform. If this metric is calculated using asset price benchmarks from the second quarter of 2025 - which Payward refers to as “Real Assets on Platform” - the value exceeds $65 billion, equivalent to a 48% year-over-year increase.
The active user base grew alongside the introduction of new services. The number of funded accounts surpassed 6.6 million, up 42% and marking a record high in the exchange’s operating history. This surge in user metrics was also driven by a change in the definition of calculations after users of NinjaTrader and Bitnomial were integrated into their product lineup.
Behind the rapid product expansion and a series of platform acquisitions, one of their business moves hit a dead end. Their application for a national bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency remains pending with no certainty. A stash of tens of billions of dollars in assets is apparently not enough to break through the thick wall of federal banking bureaucracy. As reported by crypto.news.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.