Kraken makes more from less trading – Payward’s Q2 numbers also reveal…

The parent company of Kraken, Payward, reported adjusted revenue of $508 million for the second quarter of 2026. That’s a 17% increase from the previous year.

Additionally, the company reported $23 million in Adjusted EBITDA in its Q2 2026 report, indicating that Adjusted EBITDA remained positive.

The overall volume of platform transactions, however, decreased 18% to $310 billion. This was primarily due to a decline in spot cryptocurrency activity and an increase in stocks and tokenized stocks.

Intriguing enough! Because an exchange that depends significantly on trading fees may experience a decline in revenue if trading volume significantly declines.

But even though there were fewer transactions overall, Payward’s revenue rose. The company says that this is due in part to the fact that it is now doing more than just spot crypto trading. 

Was Q2 2026 a healthy quarter for Payward?

That said, the platform’s assets totaled $40 billion, and its real assets climbed 48% year over year to $65 billion.

Strong growth was also seen in funded accounts, which increased 42% to 6.6 million, with Europe seeing the biggest increase after MiCA authorization. From 55% of total revenue in Q2 2025 to 60% in Q2 2026, its asset-based and other revenue grew.