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Kraken parent Payward's Q3 adjusted EBITDA falls 66% from a year ago to $60 million, but rebounds from Q2 as it plans US prediction markets
Summary
Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, reported $60 million in third-quarter adjusted EBITDA, down about two-thirds from $178.6 million a year earlier but up from $23 million in the second quarter, The Block reported.
The company swapped adjusted revenue for a new measure it calls total platform margin, which also deducts staking rewards paid to clients; it fell 12% year over year to $487 million but rose 12% from Q2, according to The Block and CoinDesk.
CoinDesk says subdued trading weighed on fees, while income tied to client assets and access to products, data and services grew to 52% of the total from 46% a year earlier as Payward expands beyond crypto trading.
Payward named prediction markets for U.S. clients among its next products, without a launch date, and plans a personal finance AI agent that would act within customer-set limits, The Block reported.
Key facts
- Customers transacted $353 billion across Payward's platforms in Q3, down 30% from a year earlier but up 22% from Q2.
- Payward ended September with 7.1 million funded accounts, up 37% year over year, and 1.5 million billable accounts, up 74%.
- Payward also plans stock perpetual futures through its own CFTC-regulated exchange, clearinghouse and broker, U.S. dollar wire settlement through its Federal Reserve master account, and a test of a U.S. credit card.
- Payward said xStocks passed $1 billion in assets under management in October, and it plans xPO, which would let private companies raise capital by issuing shares onchain, subject to regulatory approval.
- Payward added AI as a fifth business pillar alongside trading, banking, asset management and Payward Services, its infrastructure arm.
- Rivals face the same slowdown: Coinbase's Q3 revenue fell 35% year over year, and Gemini reported a 19% revenue decline and a 73% drop in volumes, CoinDesk noted.