Update April 14, 12:39 pm UTC: This article has been updated to include a comment from a Kraken spokesperson.
Deutsche Börse said Tuesday it will invest $200 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, deepening a partnership as the German exchange operator expands into digital assets.
The investment, subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the second quarter, will give Deutsche Börse a 1.5% fully diluted stake in Kraken through a secondary share purchase.
The deal underscores growing interest from traditional finance in the crypto industry. It supports Deutsche Börse’s plans to offer access to a broader range of blockchain-based securities and tokenized investment products and builds on an existing strategic partnership with Kraken.
On Dec. 4, 2025, Deutsche Börse and Kraken agreed to enhance institutional access to regulated crypto products such as spot trading, tokenized markets and derivatives, and to integrate Kraken-backed xStocks into Deutsche Börse’s digital asset infrastructure, 360X. The collaboration aims to produce new products across trading, custody, settlement, collateral management and tokenized assets. A Kraken spokesperson told Cointelegraph the transaction was a secondary sale of existing shares and that the partnership aims to bring crypto and TradFi closer as “a single, cohesive infrastructure for institutional clients,” rather than parallel systems.
Kraken is among the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by daily trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap data. In November 2025, Kraken said it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering, following an $800 million fundraising that valued the company at $20 billion.
TradFi institutions are increasingly deepening crypto exposure. On March 9, Nasdaq partnered with Kraken and Backed to develop an equities transformation gateway, building on Nasdaq’s tokenization proposal filed with U.S. regulators. A week earlier, Intercontinental Exchange invested in crypto exchange OKX to bring NYSE-listed tokenized stocks to that exchange beginning in Q2 2026. In January, CME Group announced plans to launch futures tied to Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK) and Stellar (XLM); on April 6 it added plans to list futures for Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) starting May 4, subject to regulatory approval.
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently. Read our Editorial Policy https://cointelegraph.com/editorial-policy
