Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
- Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has completed its acquisition of Bitnomial.
- Payward now holds a full suite of U.S. derivatives licenses issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Payward Completes Bitnomial Acquisition
Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has finalized its acquisition of Bitnomial, paving the way for a full-scale entry into the U.S. crypto derivatives market.
With the deal complete, Payward now holds a comprehensive set of U.S. derivatives licenses, including Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), Designated Contract Market (DCM), and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) approvals from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
These licenses allow the firm to offer regulated products such as spot margin, perpetual futures, and options to eligible U.S. clients across Kraken and NinjaTrader.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the rollout will begin with spot margin trading on Kraken, with perpetuals and options expected to follow. He described the licensing stack as a key enabler for expanding the company’s product suite.
Bitnomial, a Chicago-based crypto-native exchange, operates under three CFTC-issued licenses and has built a reputation for listing new digital asset derivatives early, including products tied to Aptos futures.
Following the acquisition, Payward plans to scale Bitnomial’s team while maintaining its regulatory structure and third-party business lines.
While final terms were not disclosed, Payward previously indicated the deal could reach up to $550 million in cash and stock, valuing the company at around $20 billion.
Expanding derivatives footprint
The acquisition also opens a new distribution channel for Payward’s partners — including banks, brokerages, and payment providers — enabling them to offer U.S.-regulated derivatives to their clients.
Beyond the U.S., Payward already operates regulated derivatives platforms in the UK and expanded into the European Union last year.
The Bitnomial deal comes five months after Kraken raised $800 million in two funding rounds to hit a $20 billion valuation.
Similar to Coinbase and other leading crypto companies, Payward continues to position itself for a potential public listing. The company confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November.
