Kraken parent Payward in talks with BNY over crypto partnership

BitcoinWorld Kraken parent Payward in talks with BNY over crypto partnership Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has entered talks with BNY about a potential partnership spanning six business lines, including crypto custody, trading and payments, according to Crypto. news. Two people familiar with the discussions, who spoke anonymously because the negotiations are private, said no agreement is guaranteed.

Payward and BNY are discussing a potential partnership covering crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and financial infrastructure. The talks were first reported by Crypto. news on October 2, 2026, with PANews reporting the same discussions on October 3.

Negotiations remain ongoing and no deal has been confirmed. The proposed arrangement could involve services supplied through Payward Services, the Wyoming-based company’s platform for banks, exchanges and asset managers, one of the people said. Parts of the discussions resemble the infrastructure work included in Payward’s recent agreement with Nasdaq.

Key facts Payward and BNY are discussing six areas of potential cooperation: crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and financial infrastructure, per Crypto. news. Talks are ongoing with no guarantee of an agreement, according to people cited by both Crypto.

news and PANews. Nasdaq Ventures agreed in September 2026 to invest $100 million in Payward at a reported $21 billion valuation, tied to tokenized equity infrastructure and a market surveillance arrangement. Payward closed its Bitnomial US derivatives acquisition on May 1, 2026, and its $600 million Reap stablecoin payments acquisition on July 1.

BNY’s deposit-tokenization program, announced January 9, 2026, began with collateral and margin workflows on a private, permissioned blockchain. What both reports agree on, and where they diverge Crypto. news and PANews describe the same core story: two people familiar with the matter say BNY and Payward are negotiating a broad digital-asset and market-infrastructure partnership, with services delivered through Payward Services and an infrastructure component echoing the Nasdaq agreement.

The two accounts differ in framing rather than substance. Crypto. news credits its own reporting and identifies BNY as formerly Bank of New York Mellon, a provider of custody, asset servicing, clearing and wealth management for institutional clients, listed on the NYSE under BK.

PANews credits CoinDesk for the underlying report, describing BNY as a “custody banking giant” and calling the scope a “broad partnership” covering digital assets and financial market infrastructure. Neither report names the individuals involved, and PANews, like Crypto. news, notes there is no guarantee a deal will be reached.

Why the BNY talks fit Payward’s recent dealmaking The reported discussions follow a stretch of consolidation for Payward. On the exchange side, the company is building out regulated US derivatives through its Bitnomial purchase, which brought a designated contract market, a derivatives clearing organization and a futures commission merchant under the CFTC’s framework. Payward said it would connect that infrastructure across Kraken, NinjaTrader and Payward Services, giving banks, brokerages and payment firms access to regulated US crypto derivatives through a single integration.

Those moves sit alongside the Nasdaq arrangement, which Crypto. news reported on September 10 at a $21 billion valuation and which packages three components: the $100 million investment, further work on Nasdaq Equity Tokens, and a market surveillance agreement. Under that deal, Payward will adopt Nasdaq’s surveillance technology across crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options venues, and the two expect to launch equity tokens in the second quarter of 2027.

Nasdaq named Wells Fargo its exclusive capital markets adviser on the transaction. On the banking side, BNY has been building institutional digital-cash capabilities. Its January 9 announcement described creating blockchain records that mirror participating clients’ existing deposit balances, starting with collateral and margin workflows.

The bank said the digital entries represent clients’ demand deposit claims against BNY, run on a private, permissioned blockchain, and continue to appear in its traditional records for regulatory and reporting purposes. Rules-based, near-real-time cash movement was identified as a future objective for institutional clients. Why it matters A tie-up between a crypto-native group and one of the largest custody banks would matter beyond the two firms.

It would put regulated banking infrastructure and crypto trading, custody and payments capability under one commercial relationship, at a time when traditional custodians and exchanges are converging on tokenized assets and digital cash. For banks, brokers and asset managers weighing digital-asset exposure, it would also create a route through a single B2B provider rather than a patchwork of vendors. The talks follow a broader pattern in which crypto companies buy regulated US market infrastructure, while established banks build tokenized deposit rails rather than standalone crypto products.

What to watch The next concrete checkpoint is whether Payward and BNY confirm an agreement, which neither has done so far. Separately, the Nasdaq-linked equity token launch, which the two companies said they expect in the second quarter of 2027, remains a measurable milestone for Payward’s tokenized market infrastructure work. Frequently Asked Questions What areas could a Payward-BNY partnership cover?

Reports cite crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and financial infrastructure, with services potentially delivered through Payward Services, the company’s B2B platform for banks, exchanges and asset managers. Is a Payward-BNY deal confirmed? No.

Both Crypto. news and PANews say the talks are ongoing and there is no guarantee the companies will reach an agreement. What did Nasdaq agree with Payward?

Nasdaq Ventures agreed to invest $100 million in Payward at a reported $21 billion valuation, alongside tokenized equity infrastructure and a market surveillance arrangement, with tokenized equities expected to launch in the second quarter of 2027. What acquisitions has Payward made recently? Payward closed its Bitnomial US derivatives purchase on May 1, 2026, completed the $600 million Reap stablecoin payments acquisition on July 1, and separately agreed to buy Magic Labs’ wallet business.

What is BNY’s role in digital assets? BNY’s deposit-tokenization program, announced January 9, 2026, creates blockchain records for clients’ existing deposit balances, beginning with collateral and margin workflows on a private, permissioned blockchain. This post Kraken parent Payward in talks with BNY over crypto partnership first appeared on BitcoinWorld.