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Kraken\u2019s $600 million acquisition of Reap folds a Hong Kong stablecoin business\u2011payments specialist into its stack, with Payward issuing stock at a $20 billion valuation to anchor its IPO\u2011era M&A currency.<\/p>\n
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Kraken\u2019s parent company Payward Inc. has agreed to acquire Hong Kong-based Reap Technologies for $600 million in a cash-and-stock deal, marking one of the largest bets yet by a global crypto exchange on stablecoin payment infrastructure in Asia, according to\u00a0Bloomberg<\/a>. The transaction values the Payward shares issued in the deal at a $20 billion equity valuation, effectively reaffirming the level Kraken reached in its last major funding round before IPO preparations began.<\/p>\n Reap is a financial technology company that builds stablecoin-enabled infrastructure for business payments, including cross-border settlement, corporate cards, and expense management, with its flagship Reap Direct product integrating fiat and stablecoin rails for corporate clients. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the firm has been expanding its global headquarters in the city to \u201ctap into payments opportunities\u201d as local regulators roll out a licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoins, positioning itself as a beneficiary of that policy shift. In a blog post on its own site, Reap argues that \u201cstablecoins are the future of cross-border payments,\u201d saying blockchain-based rails can strip out intermediaries and significantly reduce transaction costs for businesses.<\/p>\n Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the Bloomberg report that the stock portion of the deal is being issued at a $20 billion valuation, signaling that the firm wants to anchor its M&A currency at the same level as its late 2025 raise. In that $800 million funding round, Kraken told investors it would use the capital to expand into Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region and EMEA while broadening offerings \u201cbeyond cryptocurrencies to encompass additional asset classes, sophisticated trading tools, enhanced payment services, and improved institutional capabilities,\u201d as\u00a0Yahoo Finance<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n