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.
