Kraken parent Payward agrees to buy Lithuania’s Saldo Bank
The proposed acquisition could give Payward a European banking platform for deposits, lending and payments. Regulatory approval is still required, and closing is expected in 2027.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, announced an agreement on Wednesday, October 14, to acquire Lithuania-based Saldo Bank, according to Fortune. The proposed purchase could give Payward a licensed banking platform for European deposits, lending and payments. The transaction requires regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2027, Fortune and CoinDesk reported.
Fortune said the purchase price was not disclosed. The agreement is a step toward owning a bank, rather than a completed acquisition: the services Payward plans to offer through Saldo depend on the deal receiving approval and closing. That distinction matters for customers assessing what the announcement changes today and what remains a plan for the coming years.
What Payward plans to offer through Saldo Bank
If the purchase is completed, Payward could offer European customers bank deposits, loans, credit cards and euro transfers through the Single Euro Payments Area, or SEPA, Fortune reported. Those services would broaden the range available alongside Kraken’s crypto business. Fortune also reported that Payward could use Saldo’s banking licence to provide infrastructure to other financial technology companies, extending the possible use of the bank beyond its own customers.
Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a statement quoted by Fortune that a regulated EU bank would allow the company to bring together how European clients hold, transfer and use assets. Incrypted, describing reporting by the Financial Times, said Sethi envisaged cash, crypto, tokenised stocks and credit operating on the same rails. That account also described plans to let customers borrow against assets or lend them without selling them.
Saldo brings an existing banking business to that plan. CoinDesk reported, citing The Banks, that Saldo had €163.9 million in total assets at the end of 2025, up 22.7% from a year earlier. The figure gives a measure of the lender Payward has agreed to acquire; it does not specify the price Payward will pay or establish how quickly its proposed products could reach customers.
How the bank fits Payward’s European expansion
Fortune reported that Saldo’s EU banking licence could support Payward’s services across Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany, as well as operations in the Netherlands under passporting rules. The potential reach helps explain why an established bank is significant to Payward’s plans. The report did not establish that every proposed service is already available in each market; those offerings remain tied to the acquisition and its regulatory outcome.
Kraken already held a different kind of European authorisation before this agreement. Incrypted reported that Ireland’s central bank granted the exchange an EU licence for crypto services under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework in June 2025. That licence concerns crypto services; acquiring Saldo would add a banking platform for activities such as deposits and loans. The distinction explains why the proposed purchase matters even though Kraken already operates under an EU crypto authorisation.
Payward has also pursued banking capacity in the United States. Fortune reported that Kraken Financial, its US banking arm, secured a limited-purpose Federal Reserve account seven months before the Saldo announcement, allowing direct dollar payments through Fedwire. CoinDesk reported that Payward had applied for a US national trust bank charter. Separately, CoinDesk said the company had originated more than $2 billion in loans through its banking business, attributing that figure to Payward.
The bank agreement follows another expansion initiative. Fortune reported that Nasdaq agreed in September to invest $100 million in Payward at a reported $21 billion valuation. The companies were developing blockchain-based versions of stocks expected to launch in the second quarter of 2027. Alongside the Saldo agreement, that project shows the range of conventional financial products Payward is seeking to connect with its crypto business, although the bank transaction has its own approval process and expected closing date.
Sources and context
- Kraken parent company Payward to become first crypto firm to buy a European BankFortune
- Kraken parent Payward to become first crypto firm to buy a EU bank as it expands into deposits, lendingCoinDesk (read via CryptoNews.net syndication)
- Kraken’s Parent Company Buys Bank in Lithuania to Expand Its Financial Services — FTIncrypted, reporting attributed to the Financial Times
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.
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