Payward Gains Spot Share but Profit Slips as Kraken Parent Diversifies

By Coinvote

Published November 14, 2026 - 07:23 UTC | 4 mins read

Payward Gains Spot Share but Profit Slips as Kraken Parent Diversifies

Kraken's parent Payward reported third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $60 million, down 66% from a year earlier, while its portion of worldwide spot volume rose to almost twice the prior-year level. Cointelegraph reports a growing contribution from services less tied to trading, a shift that bears on its IPO timing.

Payward's profit falls while its trading share rises

Payward, the parent company of the Kraken exchange, reported third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $60 million, a drop of 66% from a year earlier, according to Cointelegraph. The company released the results on Friday. In the same period its share of global crypto spot trading reached 6.5% in September, up from 3.3% twelve months earlier.

Transactions handled in the quarter totaled $353 billion, which is 30% less than in the third quarter of last year. The Block added that funded accounts grew 37%, a sign that the customer base kept expanding while earnings shrank.

Why share and volume move in opposite directions

The two headline trading figures do not contradict each other. Cointelegraph explained that the share gain means Payward captured a bigger slice of spot trading relative to competitors, not that activity on its platforms rose. When overall trading slows, a platform can lose volume and still gain share if rivals lose more.

The metrics also cover different ground. The 6.5% figure tracks global spot trading in September, while the $353 billion total includes spot, margin, equities, payments and certain derivatives. Readers comparing the two should treat them as separate measures of the business.

The quarter in figures

Cointelegraph's account gives the most detailed set of numbers. The year-over-year comparison looks weak, but the sequential picture is better.

Adjusted EBITDA was $60 million, against $178.6 million a year earlier and $23 million in the second quarter.
Total platform margin fell 12% from a year earlier to $487 million, but it rose 12% from $436 million in the second quarter.
Total transaction volume rose 22% from the second quarter.
The count of derivatives contracts that earn Payward a per-contract fee climbed 84% to 66 million.
Paid services such as subscriptions and trader evaluations generated $125 million in margin, up 59%.
Margin earned from assets customers hold on the platforms, including staking-related services, rose 26% to $128 million.
Asset- and access-based services made up 52% of total platform margin, compared with 46% a year earlier.

A new yardstick and a broader business

Payward introduced total platform margin this quarter to replace adjusted revenue. According to Cointelegraph, the new measure also subtracts the staking rewards that Payward pays out to its customers. That change means readers should be careful when comparing it with figures from earlier reporting periods.

The company has spent two years widening its scope beyond the core exchange. Cointelegraph listed futures broker NinjaTrader and proprietary trading firm Breakout in 2025, the US-regulated derivatives platform Bitnomial in May 2026, and the stablecoin payments firm Reap in July. Breakout, which charges traders for evaluations that can lead to funded accounts, counted for the full quarter after joining in September 2025. Payward did not quantify what Breakout or Reap contributed.

The asset-based line explains much of the sequential improvement. Cointelegraph noted that it accounted for roughly half of the $51 million rise in total platform margin from the second quarter.

How the three outlets frame the results

The accounts agree on the central number. Cointelegraph and The Block both put adjusted EBITDA at $60 million, and The Block described it as a fall of about two-thirds. The emphasis differs, however. CoinDesk stressed that expansion outside crypto trading helped cushion the revenue decline and that results showed signs of improvement from the second quarter. CoinDesk also noted that both earnings and the newly introduced performance measure stayed below year-earlier levels, which matches the year-over-year declines in Cointelegraph's figures.

The Block's headline also mentions plans for US prediction markets and a personal finance AI agent, but the summary gives no further detail on them.

What the revenue mix means for a listing

Cointelegraph linked the shift toward services to Payward's IPO ambitions. The company filed confidentially for a US listing in November 2025, then put those plans on hold in March amid softer market conditions. As of September, the second quarter of 2027 was the earliest time frame being weighed for a possible debut.

Transaction fees rise and fall with market activity, so investors usually look for income that is steadier. Margin tied to staking, subscriptions and holdings is one candidate for that role. The 52% share of platform margin from asset- and access-based services is the figure that speaks most directly to that question. For market backdrop, CoinGecko data show Ethereum trading at about $1,897, down 15.2% over seven days and 18.9% over 30 days, against an all-time high of $4,946 reached in August 2025. The sources reviewed here do not include results from peer exchanges, so the comparison with competitors rests on the market-share figure Cointelegraph reported.

Open questions for the next quarters

Several points remain unresolved. Payward has not said how much Breakout and Reap added to the quarter, which makes it hard to separate organic growth from acquired revenue. It is also an open question whether the improvement from the second quarter holds if trading activity stays subdued.

Readers tracking Kraken can check three things in later disclosures: whether acquisition contributions are quantified, how the prediction-markets plan in The Block's headline takes shape, and whether the IPO window under consideration moves from the second quarter of 2027.

Market snapshot

Asset	Price	24h	7d	Market cap
Ethereum (ETH)	$1,897	-2.3%	-15.2%	$231.88 billion

CoinGecko data as of 2026-11-14 (UTC).

FAQ

How much did Payward's adjusted EBITDA fall in the third quarter?

Adjusted EBITDA fell 66% from a year earlier to $60 million, according to Cointelegraph and The Block. It was up from $23 million in the second quarter, and Cointelegraph reported the prior-year figure as $178.6 million.

How can Payward's market share rise while trading volume falls?

Market share compares Payward's slice of global spot trading with competitors, so it can grow when the whole market slows. Cointelegraph reported that share nearly doubled to 6.5% in September while quarterly transactions of $353 billion were 30% lower than a year earlier.

When could Kraken's parent company go public?

Payward confidentially filed for a US IPO in November 2025 and paused plans in March. According to Cointelegraph, the earliest potential listing window under consideration by September was the second quarter of 2027.