Kraken’s parent company Payward reported first-quarter adjusted revenue of $507 million, marking a 3% year-over-year increase despite a broad crypto market downturn. The Wyoming-based firm credited growth in futures trading and newer business lines for offsetting softer activity in its core spot trading operations. The earnings press release, issued Monday, detailed how the exchange navigated a challenging quarter for digital-asset platforms.
Total platform transaction volume reached $357 billion in the quarter, yet industry-wide conditions weighed on activity. Bitcoin fell 22% during the period, total crypto market capitalization declined 23%, and industry spot trading volume dropped 38%. Firms heavily dependent on crypto trading revenue—including rivals Coinbase and Robinhood—saw declines, but Payward’s diversification strategy proved resilient.
Futures DARTs (daily average revenue trades) surged 51% year-over-year, driven by the integration of NinjaTrader, the launch of the Breakout derivatives product, and an expanded derivatives offering. The company highlighted that its Kraken exchange increased spot market share to 5.2% in March from roughly 3.5% in mid-2025, outperforming competitors during the downturn. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $18 million, down from a year earlier as Payward continued investing heavily in acquisitions, product development, and regulatory infrastructure.
“Where others pulled back, we leaned in,” Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the release. Recent acquisitions—including tokenization platform Backed, token lifecycle management firm Magna, derivatives exchange Bitnomial, and payments company Reap—aim to further diversify revenue streams. Funded accounts rose 47% year-over-year to 6.1 million, and assets on platform increased 11% to $40 billion as of March 31.
The performance underscores how major exchanges are pivoting toward derivatives and institutional services to weather retail trading slumps. Payward’s ability to post growth while markets contracted signals a maturing business model that could influence competitors’ strategies.
