Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is exploring full banking licenses in jurisdictions outside the United States, co-CEO Dave Ripley said at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2026.
Ripley identified trading, banking and asset management as the firm’s three key product pillars. He said Payward already handles payments, money movement, lending, yield and custody, and that obtaining conventional banking status abroad could expand those services to more users. The company is not immediately seeking a U.S. banking license, focusing instead on geographies where regulation may allow faster progress.
Kraken already operates Kraken Financial, a Wyoming-chartered Special Purpose Depository Institution launched in March 2024. It offers digital asset custody and deposit accounts for institutions but cannot lend customer fiat funds and is not FDIC insured. Earlier this year, Kraken Financial received a limited-purpose Federal Reserve master account — the first for a crypto company.
Payward has also applied for a national trust company charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Payward National Trust Company. On the institutional side, Kraken recently launched qualified custody through Kraken Institutional, giving clients regulated infrastructure for digital assets and access to Kraken’s broader product ecosystem.
Chief Commercial Officer Mark Greenberg said the company could eventually offer mortgages, signaling ambitions to become a broad financial services provider rather than only a crypto exchange. Payward has not disclosed a timeline or specific jurisdictions for full banking license applications.
