Kraken Delays IPO to 2027 as Deutsche Börse Backs $13.3B Valuation
Kraken's anticipated U.S. listing is now expected to move into 2027, while Deutsche Börse has committed $200 million for a 1.5% Payward stake in a secondary transaction that implies a $13.3 billion valuation. The structure gives the exchange operator strategic alignment, not new operating capital for Kraken.
The expected timetable for Kraken's anticipated U.S. initial public offering has moved into 2027, choosing a longer runway as public-market appetite for crypto platforms cools. The delay comes alongside a separate institutional endorsement: Deutsche Börse Group agreed to buy $200 million of existing Payward shares for a 1.5% fully diluted stake, a transaction implying a $13.3 billion equity valuation for Kraken's parent. [1][2]
The two developments should not be conflated. Deutsche Börse's investment is a secondary transaction, so its payment goes to the selling shareholder rather than onto Kraken's balance sheet. It is strategically meaningful because it extends a partnership around regulated crypto markets, tokenized assets, derivatives and institutional liquidity, but it is not an IPO financing round. [1]
A reported delay, not a priced offering
Payward confidentially submitted a draft Form S-1 on November 19, 2025, and management later confirmed that filing. A March report said the company had put the plan on hold until market conditions improved. Kraken had not published a share count, price range or formal listing date, and its public disclosure did not confirm a final 2027 date. The responsible reading of the summer timetable is therefore that a 2027 debut is the reported direction, rather than a completed public offering calendar. [2]
The reset is visible in the valuation math. Deutsche Börse's $200 million purchase for 1.5% of Payward equates to roughly $13.3 billion on a simple pro rata basis, versus the $20 billion valuation attached to Kraken's November 2025 funding round. The 33.5% difference is a price signal from a secondary sale, not a new valuation negotiated in a primary capital raise. It nevertheless gives prospective public-market investors a tangible private-market reference point. [1][2]
The exchange is being led through that choice by co-CEOs Arjun Sethi and David Ripley. Sethi was appointed in October 2024 to serve alongside Ripley, who had been chief executive since 2023. Sethi has framed the strategy around making multi-asset market access more broadly available, while Ripley continues to share the top operating role. [3]
"This transaction is the first step in our vision of an institutional-grade trading platform where any asset can be traded, anytime," Sethi said when Kraken announced its NinjaTrader agreement. [4]
A strategic investor, not fresh capital
Deutsche Börse described its move as deepening the companies' partnership. The German exchange operator is acquiring a minority stake in Payward through existing shares, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. That distinction matters: a primary investment would fund Kraken's operations directly; the disclosed deal changes ownership and aligns incentives, without demonstrating that Kraken has added $200 million of cash for expansion. [1]
For an eventual IPO, a traditional exchange owner on the cap table is a useful signal. It connects Kraken to an operator whose businesses span trading, clearing, custody, market data and post-trade infrastructure. But it does not remove the central public-market question: whether a crypto exchange can smooth revenue across low-volatility quarters rather than depend chiefly on transaction activity.
Company — Public-market status — Comparison valuation or figure — What it shows
Coinbase — Public since 2021 — $359.5M Q2 2026 net loss — A listed exchange remains exposed to lower trading activity despite diversification.
Bullish — IPO completed, August 2025 — $13.16B NYSE debut valuation — A strong listing can still command an exchange-scale valuation.
Kraken — IPO reported to be delayed — $13.3B implied private valuation — Deutsche Börse bought $200M of secondary shares for a 1.5% stake. [1]
Robinhood — Public — 2,000+ Stock Tokens in 120+ countries — Brokerage competitors are extending into onchain distribution.
Blockchain.com — Confidential S-1 filed, May 2026 — Price and share count not set — Filing preparation does not itself establish an IPO date.
Time to build the less cyclical business
The delay gives Kraken time to turn its institutional and multi-asset ambitions into a clearer pre-IPO operating story. Its $1.5 billion agreement to acquire retail futures platform NinjaTrader was designed to add a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, nearly two million traders and a route toward U.S. crypto futures and derivatives. The transaction is also intended to pair Kraken's UK, EU and Australian licences with NinjaTrader's international growth. [4]
Kraken Wallet is another part of the distribution strategy. The self-custody product gives the company a relationship with users outside the centralised trading screen and creates a bridge to onchain assets, even though Kraken has not published a standalone wallet-user figure. In the United Arab Emirates, Payward has also received preliminary approval from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, with a fuller operational licence still required before the proposed local rollout. Those initiatives broaden the business, but should not be counted as completed revenue in an IPO model.
Its U.S. payments infrastructure is more concrete. Kraken Financial, its Wyoming-chartered bank, received a Federal Reserve master account in March and said it would begin a phased institutional rollout. The account offers direct Fedwire connectivity, although the limited-purpose arrangement comes with restrictions and is not equivalent to unrestricted central-bank services. [5]
A slower exchange IPO wave
The public comparables sharpen the rationale for patience. Coinbase reported $1.22 billion of Q2 revenue and a $359.5 million net loss on July 30, a reminder that scale and listed status do not eliminate market-cycle exposure. Meanwhile, Robinhood's July 1 launch of Robinhood Chain turned a brokerage competitor into an operator of a permissionless Layer 2 for tokenized assets and decentralized finance.
Kraken's answer is not to match every product immediately. The Deutsche Börse relationship, NinjaTrader agreement, Wallet distribution, Dubai regulatory path and Fed payment access collectively point to a wider infrastructure pitch. Blockchain.com has filed confidentially but set no terms; Chainalysis has not announced a filing or date. That leaves Kraken with time, but also makes execution more important than the original 2026 listing ambition.
References
[1] Deutsche Börse Group, "Deutsche Börse Group Acquires a Stake in Kraken for $200 Million," April 14, 2026. https://www.deutsche-boerse.com/dbg-en/media/news-stories/press-releases/Deutsche-B-rse-Group-Acquires-a-Stake-in-Kraken-for-200-Million-5077740
[2] Finance Magnates, "Kraken IPO Slides Toward 2027, Four Weeks After CEO Publicly Reaffirmed Filing," May 18, 2026. https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/kraken-ipo-slides-toward-2027-four-weeks-after-sethi-publicly-reaffirmed-filing/
[3] Business Wire, "Kraken Appoints Arjun Sethi as Co-CEO to Accelerate Company Mission and Growth," October 30, 2024. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241030235650/en/Kraken-Appoints-Arjun-Sethi-as-Co-CEO-to-Accelerate-Company-Mission-and-Growth
[4] NinjaTrader, "Kraken to Acquire NinjaTrader: Introducing the Next Era of Professional Trading," March 20, 2025. https://ninjatrader.com/news/kraken-to-acquire-ninjatrader-introducing-the-next-era-of-professional-trading/
[5] Kraken, "Kraken becomes first digital asset bank to receive a Federal Reserve master account," March 4, 2026. https://blog.kraken.com/news/federal-reserve-master-account