Payward to Buy Reap for $600M to Expand Stablecoin Payments and Card Settlement

Payward (Kraken) agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies for up to $600M in cash and Payward stock, valuing Reap at about $20B. The deal is still awaiting regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2H 2026. Reap provides stablecoin payments rails that connect traditional banking/card networks with digital-asset settlement via a single API. Its platform supports corporate card issuing, cross-border payouts, and treasury management, with Reap’s tooling designed for stablecoin settlement alongside fiat and crypto operations. Under the agreement, Reap will keep operating as a standalone platform while being integrated into Payward Services. Payward Services (launched March 2026) aims to give banks and enterprises one integration layer for trading, funding, payments, and digital-asset tools. Adding Reap’s stablecoin payments layer is intended to extend global card issuance and cross-border payment rails, helping partners run stablecoin treasury more efficiently. The acquisition continues Payward’s regulated-infrastructure build. It recently agreed to buy the US crypto derivatives platform Bitnomial (up to $550M) and has prior deals such as NinjaTrader and Backed. Payward reported $2.2B revenue in 2025 (+33% YoY) and said it is still considering an IPO after pausing preparation in March. For traders, the key takeaway is that this stablecoin payments expansion is geared toward enterprise rails and card settlement rather than a direct on-chain token catalyst, so near-term market moves are more likely to reflect broader “infrastructure/regulated growth” sentiment than any single crypto price reaction.