Overview
- Deutsche Börse, which disclosed the deal Tuesday, is buying existing shares that value Kraken near $13.3 billion and expects to close in the second quarter pending regulatory sign-off.
- The purchase is a secondary transaction, so Kraken receives no new cash even as Deutsche Börse takes a 1.5% fully diluted stake in parent Payward Inc.
- The stake deepens a December 2025 partnership to connect trading, custody, settlement, and tokenized assets, including Kraken’s direct link to Deutsche Börse’s 360T FX venue and the xStocks launch on the regulated 360X platform.
- Kraken has paused its planned IPO after confidentially filing last year, following an $800 million raise that included $200 million from Citadel Securities, reflecting tougher market conditions and a lower private valuation.
- Separately, Kraken is addressing insider access incidents and an extortion attempt that may have exposed limited data for about 2,000 accounts, with no breach of core systems or loss of client funds reported.