---
title: "Payward and BNY Explore Strategic Crypto Tie-Up"
date: 2026-10-02
author: "Kathleen Kinder"
featured_image: "https://coinlaw.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/payward-and-bny-partnership-crypto-custody.jpg"
categories:
  - name: "Investments"
    url: "/investments.md"
tags:
  - name: "News"
    url: "/tag/news.md"
---

# Payward and BNY Explore Strategic Crypto Tie-Up

BNY is in talks with Kraken parent Payward over a six-part partnership, people familiar with the discussions said in accounts published 30th September 2026. Neither company has announced an agreement, and the talks may not produce one.

## The Brief

- BNY and Payward are discussing crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and infrastructure, two people familiar with the talks said.
- Payward Services, the company’s platform for banks, exchanges and asset managers, could supply much of what a deal would cover.
- Nasdaq Ventures agreed last month to invest $100 million in Payward, and parts of the BNY talks resemble that agreement, one person said.
- Kraken account holders have nothing to act on yet, since neither company has announced an agreement.

## Payward Services sits at the center of the talks

The talks, first reported by CoinDesk, center on Payward Services, the Wyoming-based company’s business-to-business arm. It gives banks, exchanges and asset managers access to services that also support Kraken and Payward’s other businesses.

One of the people said parts of the discussion resemble the infrastructure work in Payward’s Nasdaq agreement. The person spoke anonymously because the negotiations are private. On that account, the relationship would stretch across several business lines, with no single crypto product at its center.

BNY, formerly **Bank of New York Mellon**, trades on the **New York Stock Exchange** as BK. One of the world’s largest custody banks, it provides custody, asset servicing, clearing and wealth management for institutions. The bank has also been building out its own digital asset operations, including tokenized deposits and onchain settlement for institutions.

> SCOOP: BNY in talks with Kraken parent Payward over infrastructure partnership.[@willcanny99](https://x.com/willcanny99?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) reports.<https://t.co/4Zv4quxYkL>
> 
> — CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) [October 2, 2026](https://x.com/CoinDesk/status/2106084039077826845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 ## Nasdaq’s investment sets a template

Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) paired the Nasdaq Ventures investment with two other commitments. According to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the transaction, the deal valued Payward at $21 billion. The package also covered more work on Nasdaq Equity Tokens and a new market surveillance agreement.

Under the surveillance deal, Payward will adopt Nasdaq’s technology across its crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options venues. The equity-token work spans distribution, trading and post-trade services. Nasdaq said it will connect the tokens to [Payward’s xStocks ecosystem](https://coinlaw.io/xstocks-ton-wallet-tokenized-us-stocks/) while keeping investor protections and issuer rights in place.

Payward said in March that its [xStocks tokenized stock product](https://coinlaw.io/kraken-eu-tokenized-stocks-launch/) had passed $25 billion in transaction volume. More than $4 billion of that settled onchain.

## Payward’s revenue mix explains the bank push

Payward’s second-quarter numbers show trading slowing while other lines grew.

| Payward, Q2 2026 | Figure | Change |
|---|---|---|
| **Adjusted revenue** | $508 million | Up 17% year over year |
| **Adjusted EBITDA** | $23 million | Not reported |
| **Platform transaction volume** | $310 billion | Down 18% |
| **Asset-based and other revenue** | 60% of total | Up from 55% a year earlier |

Asset-based and other revenue reached **60%** of the total. A bank deal built on custody, payments and infrastructure would feed that side of the business, the side still growing.

Payward has also bought regulated plumbing a bank partner could plug into:

- **[Bitnomial](https://coinlaw.io/payward-acquires-bitnomial-550m/), announced at up to $550 million in cash and stock, closed in May. It holds a designated contract market, a derivatives clearing organization and a futures commission merchant license.**
- **NinjaTrader, the retail futures platform, cost about $1.5 billion in 2025.**
- **Reap, a stablecoin payments business announced at $600 million, closed in July.**
- **Magic Labs’ wallet business came through an asset purchase on undisclosed terms. The companies said its technology has supported more than 60 million wallets and over $10 billion in stablecoin volume.**

Payward said it would connect the Bitnomial infrastructure across **Kraken**, **NinjaTrader** and **Payward** Services. Banks, brokerages and payment firms could then reach regulated U.S. crypto derivatives through one integration. The [SoFi agreement on banking and payments](https://coinlaw.io/sofi-payward-partner-banking-digital-asset-markets/) followed the same logic last month, adding access to Kraken Prime and SoFi’s real-time settlement network.

BNY would bring its own onchain cash. In January, the bank began issuing blockchain entries that mirror participating clients’ demand deposit claims, starting with collateral and margin workflows. Those entries run on a private, permissioned blockchain, while balances stay on BNY’s traditional books for regulatory reporting. The bank named rules-based, near-real-time cash movement as a future goal.

On paper, the fit is obvious. Payward runs venues designed for markets that don’t close, and BNY is building cash that can move almost instantly between institutions. Nothing in the reporting ties that program to the Payward talks, though. Firms commenting on it, including Citadel Securities, Invesco and WisdomTree, spoke only about BNY’s digital cash.

## What’s Next?

Plenty is still unanswered. Would BNY take an equity stake, as Nasdaq did? Which of the six areas would come first? Would BNY’s tokenized cash connect to Kraken’s venues? And is there any target date for signing?

The next dated marker sits with Nasdaq. It expects the equity tokens built with Payward to launch in the second quarter of 2027. Nasdaq calls that date an expectation, and its release lists regulation among the factors that could affect results. The BNY talks carry no public timeline at all.

Definition of Blockchain. Link to full glossary entry follows the description.**Blockchain**A distributed digital ledger that records transactions across a network, with each block cryptographically linked to the previous one for security.

[Read more](https://coinlaw.io/glossary/blockchain/)

Definition of Stablecoin. Link to full glossary entry follows the description.**Stablecoin**A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency tied to a reserve asset like the US dollar, designed to maintain a stable value for trading, payments, and transfers.

[Read more](https://coinlaw.io/glossary/stablecoin/)