🚀 Kraken Parent Payward Trims Staff, Targets $20B Valuation Ahead of IPO

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The race to Wall Street is heating up! 🔥 Kraken’s parent company, Payward, is making some major strategic moves behind the scenes.

According to sources, the crypto heavyweight is cutting around 150 jobs (from its 3,000-strong workforce) as part of an optimization effort ahead of its planned IPO. 💼✂️

📈 The Road to the IPO: 80% Ready

This isn't a sign of trouble, but a pre-listing tune-up. Payward has already filed a confidential draft S-1 with the SEC. While they briefly paused due to market conditions, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi recently revealed at Consensus Miami that the exchange is “80% ready” to go public. 🔔

💰 $20B Valuation & Aggressive Shopping Spree

To supercharge its growth, Payward is raising fresh capital at a staggering $20 Billion valuation. Instead of playing defense, they are on a massive acquisition spree to scale up:

NinjaTrader ($1.5B): A massive US retail futures platform. 📉

Reap ($600M): Next-gen stablecoin payments infrastructure. 💳

Bitnomial ($550M): Expanding heavily into digital asset derivatives. 📊

💡 Quick Take

Layoffs are always tough, but Payward is following the classic tech playbook: trim the fat, raise massive capital, and buy up market share right before going public. 🧠

When the market conditions flip completely bullish, Kraken’s IPO is going to be absolutely massive. Keep your eyes on this one! 👀

⚠️ Disclaimer: Not financial advice.