Kraken Pauses IPO Plans Amid Difficult Market Conditions: Coindesk

Jack Inabinet

Wed, March 18, 2026 astatine 11:27 AM CDT 1 min read

Citing 2 sources with cognition connected the matter, Coindesk reports that Payward – the genitor institution of crypto speech Kraken – has shelved its plans for multi-billion dollar nationalist marketplace debut.

• IPO Pause: According to Coindesk's reporting, Payward, Inc. (dba Kraken), "is inactive considering an archetypal nationalist offering, but astir apt not until marketplace conditions improve." When reached for comment, a Kraken spokesperson told the outlet, "As we announced successful November, we filed confidentially with the SEC, and that is each we tin truly share."

• Confidential Filing: On November 19, Kraken announced via property merchandise that it had "confidentially" initiated the IPO process with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, meaning its archetypal S-1 draught registration connection and pertinent fiscal accusation were filed with the agency, but unavailable for nationalist review.

• Big Raise: One time earlier the announcement of its confidential IPO filing for its IPO, Kraken published a abstracted property release, revealing it received $800M successful strategical investments from assorted organization trading firms, including a $200M concern from hedge money billionaire Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities which pegged the crypto exchange's valuation astatine $20B.