Payward, a unified financial infrastructure platform and parent company of digital asset exchange Kraken, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Reap Technologies Holdings Limited, a stablecoin-native card issuing and payments infrastructure company, in a deal worth up to $600m.
The transaction will be settled through a combination of cash and Payward stock, with the deal implying an equity valuation of $20bn for Payward. The acquisition extends Payward Services, the company’s B2B infrastructure platform, into the global cards and payments arena.
Through the deal, Payward Services partners will gain the ability to incorporate card issuance, cross-border payments, and stablecoin treasury capabilities alongside Payward’s existing suite of services — which already spans crypto trading, custody, tokenised assets, on/off-ramps, and derivatives — all through a single integration point, removing the need to co-ordinate multiple vendors or manage disconnected infrastructure. The transaction follows Payward’s previous acquisitions of NinjaTrader, Bitnomial, and Backed, forming part of the company’s ongoing strategy of growing the platform through targeted, capability-driven deals.
Reap has developed a card issuance and cross-border payments stack that bridges conventional financial systems with digital assets, allowing businesses to move money across borders with improved speed, transparency, and efficiency. The platform brings together card networks, traditional financial rails, and stablecoin-native settlement within a single API-driven infrastructure, covering corporate card issuance, card programmes, cross-border payouts, and treasury management. Reap nearly tripled its revenue and volumes during 2025 and broadened its licensing footprint from Asia into South America.
The deal also creates a complementary regulatory footprint for both businesses. Reap’s existing licences are expected to accelerate Payward’s reach across the Asia-Pacific region and the Americas, while Payward’s EU and US licences open fresh corridors for Reap in European and American markets. Together, the two businesses aim to push stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure into high-growth regions including MENA and Latin America. Reap’s capabilities will be made available to Payward Services partners alongside Payward’s global liquidity, custody, and settlement infrastructure. Reap will continue to operate as a standalone platform within the Payward ecosystem, retaining its existing leadership team under co-founder and CEO Daren Guo, as well as its brand and go-to-market strategy.
Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said, “Finance is moving in one direction. Continuous markets. Programmable money. Autonomous execution. Stablecoins are the settlement substrate. AI agents are the new participants. We see the inflection on our own platform: Krak shipped to 110 countries on Day 1, xStocks crossed $29 billion in cumulative volume in its first year, 1,900 B2B partners run on Payward’s shared infrastructure today. Reap is the payments layer for what comes next. Card networks, banking rails, and blockchains on a single API, settling in stablecoins. The infrastructure for that world has to be open, regulated, and operational at global scale on Day 1. The next financial product will not be assembled. It will be deployed.”
Reap co-founder and CEO Daren Guo said, “Stablecoins in card payments are one of the largest real world applications today and Reap is proud to be leading the way. With the global stablecoin and crypto card market now exceeding $18 billion annually, Reap nearly tripled revenue and volumes in 2025, and expanded our licensing footprint from Asia to South America. What’s next is for us to connect stablecoin cards and payments to a full suite of crypto-native financial services to power scale, regulatory reach, and distribution for our clients. Joining Payward was a natural step to accelerate the future of finance and build category-disrupting offerings in web3, agentic commerce and more.”
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2026.
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