Overview
- Payward, Kraken’s parent, agreed Friday to acquire 100% of Bitnomial for up to $550 million in cash and stock, a deal that implies a $20 billion equity valuation and targets closing in the first half of 2026 pending customary conditions and CFTC notices.
- Bitnomial brings the rare trio of CFTC licenses — a Designated Contract Market, a Derivatives Clearing Organization, and a Futures Commission Merchant — which together cover the exchange, the clearinghouse, and the brokerage functions.
- Payward plans to plug Bitnomial’s system into Kraken, NinjaTrader, and Payward Services, with initial offerings expected to include spot margin, perpetual futures, and options for U.S. clients under CFTC rules, plus a single API that lets banks and brokerages access these markets.
- The announcement follows Deutsche Börse’s roughly $200 million investment for about a 1.5% stake in Payward earlier this week, extending a deal streak that includes the $1.5 billion NinjaTrader purchase in 2025 and a confidential SEC filing for a potential IPO later put on hold.
- Executives say owning crypto‑native clearing matters because margin models, collateral handling, and 24/7 settlement decide which products can exist and who can trade them, a setup that could pull more institutional activity onshore as U.S. regulators weigh paths for leveraged spot and perpetuals.