Kraken acquires $60B token platform Magna as IPO ambitions heat up
Kraken’s parent company, Payward, has bought tokenization specialist Magna in a move that sharply strengthens the exchange’s infrastructure just as it quietly positions itself for a stock market debut.
The acquisition comes on the heels of Payward confidentially filing paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. While details of the filing remain under wraps, the Magna deal clearly signals that Kraken intends to go to market as a full‑stack crypto infrastructure provider, not just a trading venue.
Magna to stay independent – with Kraken’s firepower behind it
For now, Magna is expected to continue operating as an independent platform. Kraken has indicated that the team, product stack and roadmap will remain intact, but with access to the exchange’s deep liquidity, institutional relationships and operational expertise.
Co‑CEO of Payward and Kraken, Arjun Sethi, framed the deal as a way to help crypto projects move faster without being boxed into rigid ecosystems. He emphasized that Kraken wants to help builders “go from idea to execution” without forcing them into a single, closed‑off infrastructure stack. That positioning matters at a time when many projects are wary of vendor lock‑in and seek modular, interoperable solutions.
A bet on tokenization, infrastructure and on‑chain tools
Magna’s core business revolves around token issuance and lifecycle management. With this acquisition, Kraken significantly expands its capabilities across:
– Token creation and issuance
– Vesting and distribution schedules
– Staking infrastructure
– Custody and asset safekeeping
– Escrow and capital management
All of these services are seeing growing demand as more companies, protocols and even traditional businesses experiment with putting assets, equity, rewards and governance systems on‑chain. By bringing Magna in‑house, Kraken is moving to serve not just traders, but the entire pipeline of tokenized projects from launch through long‑term management.
Magna currently serves over 160 clients and has previously reached a peak total value locked (TVL) of around $60 billion in 2025. Those numbers show that this is not a small side‑project acquisition, but a significant infrastructure play in an increasingly crowded market.
Magna gains reach, Kraken gains depth
Magna CEO Bruno Faviero described the combination as an opportunity to accelerate the platform’s global ambitions. Joining Kraken gives Magna additional capital, brand recognition and regulatory experience across multiple jurisdictions.
Faviero highlighted a shared mission to support token ecosystems throughout their entire lifecycle: formation, launch and post‑launch growth. That language closely aligns with Kraken’s shift from being seen primarily as a centralized exchange to positioning itself as a broader infrastructure and services company for the crypto economy.
For Kraken, integrating Magna’s tooling lets it offer a more complete suite to token issuers: from initial structuring to liquidity access, investor management, staking, and long‑term custody. For institutional clients, that “one‑stop shop” proposition can be a powerful differentiator.
IPO timing: bold move in a choppy market
Payward’s confidential IPO filing in November came after a strong financial year, with the company reporting approximately $2.2 billion in adjusted revenue for 2025. The Magna acquisition looks strategically timed to shore up Kraken’s growth story and product breadth ahead of any eventual listing.
Yet the backdrop is far from straightforward. Crypto markets roared into 2025, with Bitcoin climbing from under $94,000 at the end of 2024 to roughly $126,000 by October. The rally opened the door for multiple crypto‑native companies to go public, many of which enjoyed impressive first‑day trading pops.
Since then, sentiment has flipped. Bitcoin has slid below $63,000, and the performance of newly listed crypto equities has deteriorated sharply. Shares of firms like Bullish, eToro and Gemini now trade well under their debut prices, in some cases more than halving from early highs. Even Circle, which has weathered the pullback better than many peers, still sits below its opening level.
Against that backdrop, Kraken’s decision to move ahead with IPO preparations – and to spend on a sizeable acquisition – signals strong internal confidence in its long‑term trajectory.
Everyone wants a piece of the tokenization wave
Kraken is far from alone in trying to capitalize on the rising demand for compliant, scalable tokenization infrastructure.
– Hardware wallet maker Ledger has been studying paths to a U.S. listing.
– Digital asset custodian Copper has weighed similar options.
– Tokenization specialist Securitize has reported revenue growth exceeding 840% as it charts its own route toward going public.
– Consensys, the company behind MetaMask, is also understood to be lining up for a market debut.
The common thread is clear: infrastructure and tokenization businesses see themselves as the picks‑and‑shovels providers of the next phase of digital assets. While trading volumes and token prices fluctuate, demand for secure custody, compliant issuance, and institutional‑grade tooling tends to be more durable.
Why tokenization is central to Kraken’s future
The Magna deal underlines Kraken’s bet that tokenization will extend far beyond native crypto assets. The same rails can support:
– Tokenized equity and cap tables
– On‑chain vesting for founders and employees
– Revenue‑sharing and royalty mechanisms
– Real‑world asset representations, from real estate to private credit
– Governance tokens for DAOs and community‑driven projects
By embedding Magna’s stack, Kraken can pitch itself to startups and enterprises not just as a place to list a token, but as the infrastructure partner to design, launch and manage the entire economic layer of their product. That deepens client relationships and can create recurring revenue streams that are less correlated to day‑to‑day market swings.
Strengthening the IPO narrative
From an IPO perspective, acquiring Magna gives Kraken several talking points that resonate with public‑market investors:
1. Diversification of revenue – Beyond trading fees, Kraken can point to infrastructure, staking, custody and tokenization as separate, scalable business lines.
2. Enterprise and B2B exposure – Serving 160+ Magna clients, many of them project teams and potentially institutions, supports a narrative of professional, higher‑margin customers.
3. Long‑term growth runway – Tokenization of securities and real‑world assets is often framed as a multi‑trillion‑dollar opportunity, even if timing remains uncertain.
4. Defensive positioning – Infrastructure is typically more resilient in down markets than purely speculative products.
In a market where many listed crypto companies are still viewed as highly cyclical, having a credible infrastructure and tokenization story can help Kraken argue for a more durable valuation multiple.
Risks and challenges Kraken will need to navigate
Despite the strategic upside, the combination of a large acquisition and a pending IPO adds execution risk:
– Integration complexity: Keeping Magna “standalone” in branding while tightly integrating its services with Kraken’s backend and compliance stack will require careful product and engineering work.
– Regulatory scrutiny: As tokenization expands, regulators are watching closely. Kraken will need to ensure Magna’s offerings stay on the right side of securities law in each jurisdiction.
– Market cycles: If crypto markets remain weak, appetite for new listings and token launches could soften, testing the near‑term revenue impact of the deal.
– Competitive pressure: Other infrastructure players and exchanges are building similar capabilities, which could compress margins over time.
How Kraken handles these challenges in the next 12-24 months may prove just as important as the acquisition itself in determining the success of its eventual IPO.
What this means for projects and builders
For teams planning or managing a token, the Kraken-Magna tie‑up could reshape the landscape in several ways:
– More integrated tooling: Combining launch, vesting, staking and liquidity access under one roof may reduce the operational overhead for projects.
– Improved liquidity pathways: Being close to a major exchange from day one can simplify the path from private token design to public trading.
– Potentially higher compliance standards: Kraken’s global regulatory posture may push Magna further toward institution‑friendly processes, audits and reporting.
– Global reach from launch: Kraken’s existing footprint could help projects target users and investors across multiple regions more quickly.
At the same time, some teams may worry about becoming too dependent on a single ecosystem provider, even if Kraken emphasizes that it does not intend to lock projects into one stack.
The bigger picture: infrastructure over hype
The timing of this acquisition, in the middle of a downshift in token prices and public‑market sentiment, underscores a familiar theme in crypto: infrastructure tends to be built during downturns and monetized during the next upcycle.
While spot prices draw headlines, platforms focused on custody, issuance, staking and token management continue to invest. Kraken’s move for Magna fits neatly into that pattern. Instead of chasing short‑term volumes, it is accumulating the components needed to support the next wave of tokenization, whether that involves traditional assets, new types of digital securities, or entirely novel on‑chain economic models.
If markets recover and IPO windows reopen more fully, Kraken will be able to present itself not just as one more exchange, but as a broader infrastructure company with a foothold in one of the most promising trends in finance: the migration of value, contracts and ownership structures onto programmable ledgers.
Outlook: IPO question becomes “when,” not “if”
With a confidential filing already in motion, a fresh acquisition in the tokenization space, and multi‑billion‑dollar adjusted revenues on the books, Kraken appears intent on joining the ranks of publicly traded crypto companies.
The precise timing will depend on market conditions, regulatory feedback and internal readiness. Yet the strategic direction is clear: build a robust, diversified infrastructure platform now, so that when the IPO window fully opens, Kraken can step through it with a compelling growth story that goes well beyond trading fees.
In that sense, snapping up Magna is less a side note and more a cornerstone in how Kraken wants to be perceived by both builders in the crypto ecosystem and future shareholders in traditional markets.