Kraken Parent Payward to Buy EU Bank Saldo, Aiming to Become First Crypto-Native Bank Owner in Europe

Payward Inc., the holding company behind cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has agreed to acquire Saldo Bank, a Lithuania-based online bank licensed in the European Union, in a deal that would make it the first crypto-native firm to own a European bank. The acquisition, announced Wednesday, is expected to close in 2027 pending approval from European regulators, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Lithuania.

The move gives Payward a full EU credit institution license, enabling it to offer interest-bearing deposits, consumer and small-business loans, credit cards, and euro-denominated payments via the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) across Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands through passporting rights. It also positions the Wyoming-based company to provide banking-as-a-service infrastructure to other fintechs, allowing them to launch financial products on Payward’s regulated rails.

Kraken declined to disclose the purchase price. A spokesperson told Fortune the company hopes to expand services “shortly after” the 2027 closing.

The acquisition solves a structural limitation that has constrained U.S. crypto firms. Coinbase and Ripple hold state trust charters in the United States, which permit them to custody assets and transmit money but prohibit them from taking deposits or extending credit. A European bank charter removes those restrictions, letting Payward function as a primary financial institution for European customers — holding assets, moving them freely, and putting them to work through lending and yield products, said Arjun Sethi, Payward’s co-chief executive.

Saldo Bank, founded in 2019, operates as a digital-first lender focused on consumer credit and deposit products in the Baltics and Nordics. Its existing loan book and deposit base give Payward an operational starting point rather than a greenfield build. The bank’s Lithuanian license, granted by the ECB, is the regulatory asset Payward is acquiring; the brand and technology stack are secondary.

The two-year timeline to close reflects the scrutiny such a precedent-setting deal will face. European supervisors have signaled skepticism about crypto firms owning banks, citing money-laundering risks, operational resilience, and the volatility of crypto-associated revenue. The ECB’s 2023 guidance on crypto-asset service providers acquiring banks emphasizes enhanced due diligence, capital buffers, and strict separation between banking and crypto trading activities. Payward will likely need to demonstrate ring-fenced compliance, independent risk management, and sustainable earnings from non-crypto sources.

The deal follows two other strategic moves. Seven months ago, Payward’s U.S. banking subsidiary, Kraken Financial, secured a limited-purpose master account at the Federal Reserve, granting direct access to Fedwire for dollar payments without correspondent banks. Last month, Nasdaq agreed to invest $100 million in Payward at a reported $21 billion valuation. The partners are developing blockchain-based representations of stocks targeted for a second-quarter 2027 launch, with Kraken slated as a distribution venue.

Together, the Fedwire access, the EU bank charter, and the Nasdaq partnership sketch a coordinated strategy: a regulated, globally licensed financial infrastructure layer that can settle both fiat and tokenized assets across jurisdictions. If approved, the Saldo acquisition would give Payward the European banking license that rivals such as Circle, Paxos, and Bitstamp have sought but not yet secured.