Payward to Acquire Lithuania's Saldo Bank in EU Expansion

Kraken Parent Company Acquires Lithuanian Bank for Expansion into Lending

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, is acquiring Lithuania-based Saldo Bank as it seeks to broaden its offerings into lending and card issuing, according to a report by The Financial Times on Wednesday.

The acquisition marks a significant move, as Payward is reportedly the first digital asset company to purchase a bank in Europe, The Financial Times noted. Saldo Bank, which obtained its EU banking license in 2021, currently provides consumer and business loans alongside term deposits. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“One of the biggest things that our customers have been asking us is ‘I would like to get products and services and offerings similar to what I get with another bank,'” Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi told The Financial Times.

Sethi outlined the company’s vision to integrate fiat currency, cryptocurrencies, tokenized stocks, and credit into a unified system. This would enable customers to borrow against and lend their assets without the need to liquidate them.

The San Francisco-based company, established in 2011, also applied in May for a national trust company charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the federal bank regulator. Other cryptocurrency firms, including Coinbase and Ripple, have received conditional approval for similar charters, which permit them to hold customer assets and offer transaction services but not accept deposits.

This month, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) filed a lawsuit against the OCC, contending that the granting of such charters to crypto firms exceeds the regulator’s authority. “Any non-fiduciary firm seeking the benefits of a federal bank charter should meet the same standards as community banks,” ICBA President and CEO Rebecca Romero Rainey stated. An OCC spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

The Saldo Bank acquisition follows Payward’s substantial investments earlier this year, including a $550 million purchase of derivatives exchange Bitnomial in April and a $600 million acquisition of Asian stablecoin payments firm Reap Technologies in May. Kraken had confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) last November, but has since postponed the listing to the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest, CoinDesk reported in September, citing sources familiar with the situation.

The Saldo Bank deal is contingent upon regulatory approvals and is anticipated to be finalized in 2027.