Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has officially closed its acquisition of Bitnomial, a Chicago-based crypto derivatives exchange. The deal, first announced in April and previously valued at up to $550 million, grants Payward a full suite of U.S. derivatives licenses and a regulated pathway to offer crypto derivatives products to eligible American clients.
According to a company statement released on Friday, the acquisition gives Payward control of three critical Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) licenses: a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), a Designated Contract Market (DCM), and a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO). This regulatory trio allows Payward to operate trading, clearing, and brokerage services under a single, unified framework — a combination no other crypto-native U.S. firm currently holds.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, outlined the rollout plans: the company will begin with spot margin trading on Kraken, followed by perpetual contracts and options. “That stack is what makes the next set of products possible,” Sethi said, emphasizing that margin services are the first step, with perpetuals and options representing the larger prize in the U.S. market where offshore platforms have long dominated crypto derivatives activity.
Bitnomial, which spent over a decade securing the necessary CFTC approvals, will continue to operate within Payward while maintaining its regulatory structure and third-party services. Payward plans to expand the exchange’s team and integrate Bitnomial’s infrastructure across Kraken, NinjaTrader, and its business-to-business platform. This integration will allow banks, brokerages, and payment firms to access regulated U.S. crypto derivatives through a single API.
The acquisition marks a broader industry trend of bringing crypto derivatives products that once lived primarily offshore into regulated domestic channels. Payward already runs regulated derivatives businesses in the UK (following a 2019 acquisition) and the EU (launched in 2025), building its international presence before entering the U.S. market with a fully licensed structure.
The deal follows a separate $200 million investment from Deutsche Börse Group earlier this month. Payward also confirmed it confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November as it continues to consider a public listing. Company data released in April showed Payward generated $2.2 billion in revenue in 2025, processed about $2 trillion in transaction volume, and held more than $48 billion in customer assets at year-end.
