Kraken parent Payward to become first crypto firm to buy a EU bank as it expands into deposits, lending
Payward agreed to buy Lithuania’s Saldo Bank, which holds $190 million in total assets, securing an EU license for deposits and lending.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, said it agreed to acquire Lithuania-based Saldo Bank for an undisclosed amount, giving it a European Union (EU) banking license as it expands beyond crypto trading into traditional financial services.
The acquisition will make Payward the first crypto firm to buy a bank in Europe, according to a Financial Times report, as crypto firms increasingly compete with traditional lenders.
Payward did not immediately respond to a CoinDesk request for more details on the amount of the acquisition deal. Saldo Bank had 163.9 million euros ($180 million) in total assets at the end of 2025, up 22.7% from a year earlier, according to The Banks.
"A regulated EU bank is the piece that lets us serve European clients the way a primary financial institution should: one place to hold assets, move them freely, and put them to work," said Arjun Sethi, Payward's co-CEO.
The deal allows Payward to offer EU customers interest-bearing bank deposits, loans, card services and euro payments.
Saldo Bank is licensed in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden and Germany, and holds a passport to operate in the Netherlands. It offers deposits, consumer and business loans and payment services.
Payward said its banking business has already originated more than $2 billion in loans and holds a Federal Reserve limited-purpose master account and an electronic money institution license in Ireland.
The deal remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2027.
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Asanat Analysis — Why it matters
Payward's acquisition of Saldo Bank marks a structural shift in how major crypto platforms approach regulatory compliance. Rather than building banking services from scratch or relying on third-party intermediaries, acquiring an existing licensed institution provides immediate access to EU deposit-taking and lending infrastructure—eliminating years of regulatory friction. This follows the playbook of traditional fintechs (Square/Cash App, PayPal) but signals crypto's maturation into legacy finance's operational model.
The move carries second-order implications: it validates the EU's MiCA regulatory framework as investable, demonstrates that crypto firms can work within (not around) banking supervision, and potentially opens a template for other large platforms seeking depth in staking, lending, and yield products. Saldo's modest $190M AUM suggests Payward is prioritizing the license over scale—a regulatory signal rather than a revenue play. However, this strategy also concentrates custody and credit risk under one entity, requiring robust governance. Success here will likely accelerate similar M&A by Coinbase, Kraken's US peer, or other platforms seeking EU banking footholds.