According to two individuals familiar with the negotiations, Kraken's parent company, Payward, has commenced talks with BNY to discuss a potential collaboration that could cover six areas, including crypto custody, trading, and payments.

These two individuals stated that BNY and Payward are discussing encrypted products, hosting, wealth management, trading, payments, and infrastructure. Negotiations are still in progress, and there is no guarantee as to whether the two parties will be able to reach an agreement.

Nasdaq Venture Capital Company ( Nasdaq Ventures ) agreed in September to invest $100 million in Payward, which is reportedly valued at $21 billion.

Payward has completed multiple acquisitions, adding regulated US derivatives and stablecoin payment services to its business.

Two people familiar with the matter stated that the proposed arrangement may involve services provided through Payward Services. Payward Services is a platform offered by this company, headquartered in Wyoming, to banks, exchanges, and asset management firms.

One of them said that some of the discussion content was similar to the infrastructure work included in the recent agreement between Payward and NASDAQ. Since the negotiations were conducted privately, this person requested to remain anonymous and described it as a potential agreement that is still under discussion.

Payward and BNY discuss hosting, payment, and transactions

In addition to encryption products and hosting, these individuals also mentioned that wealth management, trading, payments, and financial infrastructure could be areas of collaboration. Their statements describe potential relationships across multiple business lines, rather than a single encryption product.

Through its B2B platform, Payward provides service access for financial companies, and these services also support Kraken as well as its other businesses. The report states that the company's business includes spot cryptocurrency trading, derivatives, tokenized stocks, custody, collateralization, payments, and traditional securities.

In terms of banking services, the report describes BNY (formerly known as Bank, of, and New York Mellon) as an institution that provides custody, asset management, settlement, and wealth management services to institutional clients.

BNY itself discloses that its parent companies are The Bank, of, and New York Mellon Corporation. It is headquartered in New York and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BK. The bank's digital cash initiative has already involved institutional clients and financial market infrastructure providers.

Nasdaq's $100 million deal includes tokenized stock infrastructure

In September this year, crypto.news reported that Nasdaq Ventures also intended to invest $100 million in Payward. The report stated that, based on information provided by people familiar with the matter, the valuation of Payward on September 10 was set at $21 billion.

Nasdaq's accompanying announcement described three components: investment, further advancement of Nasdaq Equity Tokens, and a market monitoring agreement. Nasdaq stated that Wells Fargo served as the exclusive capital markets advisor for the transaction.

According to the agreement, NASDAQ stated that Payward will adopt its monitoring technology in cryptocurrency, stock, tokenized stock, futures, and options trading venues. The exchange operator also mentioned that its Digital Liquidity Networks business is responsible for cooperation in terms of tokenized market infrastructure.

For the planned stock tokens, NASDAQ and Payward expect to launch them in the second quarter of 2027. NASDAQ stated that the collaboration between the two parties covers issuance, trading, and post-trading services, and will connect these tokens to the xStocks ecosystem of Payward, while also ensuring investor protection and issuer rights.

In the announcement, Payward, Co-CEO of Arjun Sethi, described the planned infrastructure as:

"A channel that will not be closed and that retains shareholders' rights at the same time"

Nasdaq describes the launch time as expected and reminds that its forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance. The factors listed in the announcement that may affect the outcome include regulation and the ability to implement strategic measures.

The tokenization of BNY begins with collateral and margin.

In a announcement on January 9th, BNY described the first step of its deposit tokenization plan: creating blockchain records corresponding to the existing deposit balances of participating customers.

BNY indicates that the process begins with collateral and margin procedures, and the numerical records represent the customer's claim to a demand deposit with BNY. The system operates on a private, permissioned blockchain, yet the balances are still reflected in the bank's traditional records to meet regulatory and reporting requirements.

Under this structure, BNY indicates that its existing risk, compliance, and control frameworks will manage this capability. This line lists cash flows that are based on rules and nearly real-time as a future goal for institutional clients.

In terms of the US market infrastructure, the announcement also includes statements from the person in charge of ICE clearing services regarding support for the tokenization of deposits by clearinghouses. ICE indicated that preparations are being made for 24-hour trading and the possibility of using tokenized collateral, while maintaining communication with clearing members.

BNY also mentioned that institutions including Citadel Securities, Invesco, and WisdomTree should comment on this deposit project. These statements relate to the digital cash capabilities of BNY and are separate from the negotiations regarding Payward mentioned in the reports.

Acquisition expands into US derivatives, payments, and wallet services

The report cited a statement from Payward stating that the company completed its acquisition of U.S. derivatives in May. The Bitnomial acquisition was initially announced in April, with the transaction amount potentially reaching up to $550 million in cash and stock; the final terms were not disclosed at the time of delivery.

According to Payward, the regulatory framework of Bitnomial includes designated contract markets, derivatives clearing organizations, and futures brokers. These registrations cover exchanges, clearing, and brokerage functions under the framework of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States.

Payward indicates that the infrastructure between Kraken, NinjaTrader and Payward Services will be connected, allowing banks, brokers, and payment companies to access regulated US crypto derivatives services through a single connection.

The report also stated that in 2025, the company acquired the retail-oriented futures platform NinjaTrader for approximately $1.5 billion.

As of August 16, a report on the second-quarter financial results of Payward confirmed that Bitnomial was delivered on May 1, and the acquisition of Reap was completed on July 1. The announced amount for stablecoin payment transactions was 600 million US dollars.

In the financial results disclosed on August 14, Payward reported adjusted revenue of $508 million, a year-on-year increase of 17%, and adjusted EBITDA was $23 million. The platform's trading volume decreased by 18% to $310 billion, while income based on assets and other sources accounted for 60% of total revenue, up from 55% a year ago.

In terms of wallet infrastructure, a report on July 28th mentioned that Payward agreed to acquire Magic Labs's wallet business through an asset acquisition. Both parties stated that this technology has supported over 60 million wallets and more than $1 billion in stablecoin transaction volume. The financial terms were not disclosed, and the agreement only involves the wallet business, not the entire company.