Payward’s Q3 adjusted earnings fall 67% as trading slows

A shareholder letter reviewed by Bloomberg News on Nov. 13 put Payward’s total platform margin at $487 million, a 12% year-over-year decline. The company uses platform margin in place of adjusted revenue. Transaction volume fell to $353 billion, while funded accounts—customers with a balance greater than zero—grew 37% to 7.1 million. Compared with the second quarter, adjusted EBITDA rose 163% and platform margin increased 12%.

The results come amid weaker trading activity across crypto exchanges. Bitcoin rose about 40% from mid-August to early October before reversing course, and recently fell below $70,000 as inflation concerns, higher bond yields and the impact of the US midterm elections weighed on investor sentiment. Coinbase reported a 35% annual revenue decline in the third quarter but returned to profitability. Gemini Space Station’s revenue fell 19%, while its losses narrowed.

Payward is adding products and services to lessen its reliance on trading. Earlier this week, it introduced more than 200 tokenized UK and European stocks, including companies listed on the FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX 40. The company said its xStocks ecosystem now includes more than 1,500 assets, with over $1.1 billion in assets under management and cumulative transaction volume above $45 billion.

In October, Payward agreed to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, the Finnish parent of Lithuania-licensed Saldo Bank. The deal, pending regulatory approval and expected to close in 2027, would give Payward access to banking operations in several European markets, including deposit accounts, lending and payment cards. That month, the company also secured full approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. Kraken plans to offer crypto trading and other financial services in the United Arab Emirates, including local-currency deposits and withdrawals.

The shareholder letter said Payward intends to enter prediction markets and launch its own token, but gave no timeline or details on tokenomics or how either initiative would work. Kraken is also preparing to offer onchain perpetual futures to US customers, subject to regulatory approval.

Payward’s planned public listing could be delayed until at least the second quarter of 2027, after market conditions disrupted earlier plans. The company confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2025 and previously raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation. Earlier this year, it cut about 150 employees, citing efficiency gains from adopting artificial intelligence.