Kraken snaps up $60B token platform Magna – IPO next?

ambcryptoPublished on 2026-02-19Last updated on 2026-02-19

Abstract

Kraken's parent company, Payward, has acquired tokenization platform Magna for an undisclosed sum as it prepares for a potential IPO. Magna, which recorded a peak TVL of $60 billion in 2025, will operate as a standalone platform supported by Kraken's liquidity and resources. The deal enhances Kraken's capabilities in token issuance, vesting, staking, custody, and escrow services. This move aligns with Payward's confidential IPO filing with the SEC in November, following its reported $2.2 billion in adjusted revenue for 2025. Despite a challenging crypto market where Bitcoin has declined and newly listed firms trade below debut prices, Kraken aims to proceed with its public listing alongside other industry players like Ledger, Copper, Securitize, and Consensys.

Kraken’s parent company, Payward, has acquired tokenization platform Magna as it prepares for a potential IPO. The paperwork was confidentially filed with the SEC.

Kraken expands, IPO plans underway

The exchange has so far stated that Magna will operate as a standalone platform. They’ll be supported by the exchange’s liquidity, resources and know-how.

Payward and Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi made collective intent known with this deal. He noted that they’d want to “help projects move from idea to execution,” without “locking them into one stack.”

This deal will increase Kraken’s ability to handle token issuance, vesting, staking, custody and escrow services. These are tools increasingly in demand as more projects move on-chain.

Magna CEO Bruno Faviero said joining Kraken will give the platform more resources and global reach. Expressing happiness at the development, he stated,

“I couldn’t be more excited about our shared vision to support token ecosystems and the builders behind them across formation, launch, and growth.”

Magna currently serves more than 160 clients and recorded a peak TVL of $60 billion in 2025. The acquisition is in line with Payward filing for an IPO in November. They reported $2.2 billion in adjusted revenue for 2025.

They’re not the only ones...

Hardware wallet maker Ledger and digital asset custodian Copper have both explored US listings.

Tokenization firm Securitize recently reported revenue growth of more than 840% ahead of its own IPO plans. Consensys, the parent company of MetaMask, is also reportedly preparing for a debut.

Optimism was high at the start of 2025, as Bitcoin [BTC] surged to around $126,000 in October from under $94,000 at the end of 2024. Several crypto firms went public during that rally, many posting strong first-day gains.

But things went sour quickly.

Since October, BTC has fallen below $63,000, and newly listed crypto stocks have struggled. Bullish, eToro and Gemini are all trading well below their debut prices, with some down more than half.

Even Circle, which has held up better than its peers, remains below its opening level.

Final Summary

Kraken’s Magna acquisition will speed up IPO plans in a less than ideal crypto market.
The real test will be whether Kraken can go public as rivals struggle post-listing.

Solana Price Forecast for August 2026: Can $19 Million from Morgan Stanley and 330,000 Korean Merchants Break SOL's Triangle?

**Solana Price Forecast for August 2026: Key Catalysts and Technical Setup** As of July 31, Solana (SOL) trades at $73.59, consolidating within a triangle pattern formed between its May peak (~$98) and June low (~$60.29). A decisive breakout from this pattern is anticipated. Key resistance levels are clustered around $74.79 (0.382 Fib), $75.33 (20-day EMA), $76.01 (50-day EMA), and a critical zone near $79 (0.5 Fib & 100-day EMA). Support lies at $73.42, $69.25 (0.236 Fib), and the June low of $60.29. Two major institutional catalysts emerged recently: 1. **Morgan Stanley's MSOL ETF:** Launched July 28, it saw $19.06 million in inflows on its second day—the largest single-day inflow for any US SOL ETF since mid-May. 2. **KSNET Partnership:** The Solana Foundation signed an MoU with South Korean payment processor KSNET (serving 330,000 merchants) to explore integrating Solana Pay for domestic and AI-powered transactions. Historically, August has been volatile for SOL, marked by extreme gains in 2020 and 2021 but otherwise weak performance. The forecast for August 2026 is bifurcated: * **Bullish Case:** An upside triangle breakout, sustained MSOL inflows, and positive momentum from the KSNET news could propel SOL toward the $79 resistance cluster, especially if the CLARITY Act is passed by August 8. * **Bearish Case:** A downside break below $73.42, fading excitement around the new ETF, and stalled regulatory progress could see SOL retest support near $69.25, exacerbated by macro risks.

cryptonews.ru9m ago

Solana Price Forecast for August 2026: Can $19 Million from Morgan Stanley and 330,000 Korean Merchants Break SOL's Triangle?

cryptonews.ru9m ago

NEAR implements AI payment through staking

NEAR AI, a platform for confidential computing and autonomous AI agents, has introduced a new way to pay for AI computational resources using staking of NEAR tokens. Instead of a monthly subscription paid by credit card, users can lock up a certain amount of NEAR tokens to receive monthly compute credits, with the credit amount dependent on the staked sum. The tokens are not spent or deducted; they remain in the user's ownership and can be returned to their wallet after unstaking. Users can increase or decrease their staked NEAR based on their usage of AI services. The mechanism supports 43 models available on NEAR AI, including solutions from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google, and is designed for confidential query processing and autonomous AI agent operation. This new mechanism is the first practical application of the "AI money" concept previously proposed by NEAR, which aims to directly link the use of AI services to the cryptoasset underlying the network.

cryptonews.ru10m ago

NEAR implements AI payment through staking

cryptonews.ru10m ago

Ashenbrenner's Fund Lost Most of Its Stock Portfolio

Former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner's hedge fund, Situational Awareness, was forced to sell the majority of its public stock portfolio on July 30 after sustaining heavy losses. The portfolio, estimated at up to $16 billion, was purchased at a discount by Citadel, Ken Griffin’s firm. The rapid sale was triggered by a dual market shock: a sharp decline in the fund's concentrated bets on AI infrastructure stocks (like Nebius Group, Sandisk, Micron, CoreWeave) and losses from short positions on software firms like Adobe. The fund had used significant leverage, and falling share prices prompted margin calls from prime brokers including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase. This came just weeks after the fund reported staggering gains of 439% for the first half of the year. Following the sale, the fund retains approximately $10 billion in assets, including a stake in AI company Anthropic, which was reportedly not part of the Citadel deal. Notably, major bitcoin mining stocks held by the fund—including IREN, Bitdeer, and Riot Platforms—surged 18-30% on the day of the sale.

cryptonews.ru16m ago

Ashenbrenner's Fund Lost Most of Its Stock Portfolio

cryptonews.ru16m ago

Shiba Inu Price Forecast for August 2026: Can SHIB Maintain Its 40% Gain Unlike Emirates and Sustain Its Search Traffic?

Shiba Inu (SHIB) is consolidating in early August 2026 after a nearly 40% jump from its June lows, trading around $0.00000471. Key technical levels include support at the 0.236 Fibonacci level ($0.00000467) and resistance around the 0.382 Fibonacci level ($0.00000505) coinciding with the 100-day EMA. Historically, August has been a slightly negative month for SHIB. A major bullish catalyst is Emirates Airlines' integration of SHIB (via Crypto.com Pay) for flight bookings, providing substantial real-world utility. Concurrently, global search traffic for SHIB has hit a three-month high, signaling renewed interest. The forecast suggests a bullish scenario targeting $0.00000536 if support holds and adoption momentum continues, while a bearish case could see a retest of support near $0.00000405 if profit-taking and seasonal weakness prevail.

cryptonews.ru18m ago

Shiba Inu Price Forecast for August 2026: Can SHIB Maintain Its 40% Gain Unlike Emirates and Sustain Its Search Traffic?

cryptonews.ru18m ago

AFX Trade Promises to Present "Goodwill Plan" on August 3 Following $24 Million Loss Incident

AFX Trade, a cryptocurrency platform, announced it will present a "goodwill plan" on August 3rd, following a security incident on July 22nd that resulted in a loss of $24.15 million. The company's brief update offered no specific details on compensation for affected users, investors, and employees, only urging calm while the team formulates next steps. The theft occurred from a USDC custody account on Arbitrum, with the stolen funds converted to Ethereum. Blockchain analysts traced the funds to a single wallet. AFX Trade and Arbitrum clarified the exploit targeted a third-party bridge, not Arbitrum's native bridge. An investigation revealed the attack began on July 9th with a social engineering scheme targeting a developer. The attacker then deployed malicious code within AFX's internal JFrog repository and infrastructure, eventually compromising bridge validators to authorize the fraudulent withdrawal. The company stated the exploit leveraged a "trust vulnerability," not a smart contract bug. AFX Trade's head of business development made an offer to the attacker, proposing they keep 30% of the funds as a white hat bounty if 70% is returned. The incident fits a 2026 trend identified by TRM Labs: while the number of crypto hacks hit a record, total losses decreased. However, infrastructure and operational breaches, though fewer, accounted for the majority of financial losses. The AFX breach is classified as an infrastructure incident involving private key compromise.

cryptonews.ru19m ago

AFX Trade Promises to Present "Goodwill Plan" on August 3 Following $24 Million Loss Incident

cryptonews.ru19m ago

Trading

Spot