Kraken parent Payward's Q1 revenue climbs despite crypto market slumpCo-CEO Arjun Sethi said the firm kept investing through market weakness, leaning on acquisitions and futures growth to offset softer spot trading. May 18, 2026, 1:41 p.m. 2 min readMake preferred on Kraken's parent Payward reported first-quarter adjusted revenue of $507 million, up 3% from a year earlier, as the crypto infrastructure and trading firm expanded beyond spot crypto trading during a weaker market environment, the company said in a press release Monday.The Wyoming-based firm said growth in futures trading and newer business lines helped offset softer activity in its core crypto markets business. Futures DARTs, or daily average revenue trades, rose 51% year-over-year, driven by NinjaTrader, Breakout and expanded derivatives offerings.Total platform transaction volume reached $357 billion in the quarter, though Payward said broader market conditions weighed on activity. Bitcoin BTC$76,280.98 fell 22% during the quarter, while total crypto market capitalization declined 23% and industry-wide spot trading volume dropped 38%.Firms heavily dependent on crypto trading revenue have struggled in recent months as the market downturn reduced investor risk appetite, leading to lower trading volumes, weaker liquidity and a sharp decline in retail activity across digital-asset platforms.Despite a weaker first quarter for rival crypto trading firms such as Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD), which both reported declines in trading revenue amid softer retail activity and lower crypto prices, Kraken parent Payward delivered relatively resilient results, suggesting the exchange benefited from its stronger institutional business and growing derivatives offering even as broader market volumes slowed.Adjusted EBITDA came in at $18 million, down from a year earlier, as the company continued investing in acquisitions, product development and regulatory infrastructure rather than prioritizing near-term profitability.“Where others pulled back, we leaned in,” Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the release.Payward highlighted several recent acquisitions aimed at diversifying revenue streams beyond crypto trading, including tokenization platform Backed, token lifecycle management firm Magna, derivatives exchange Bitnomial and payments company Reap.The company said funded accounts rose 47% year-over-year to 6.1 million, while assets on platform increased 11% to $40 billion as of March 31.Payward also said Kraken, its crypto trading business, increased spot market share to 5.2% in March from about 3.5% in mid-2025, outperforming competitors during the downturn.Read more: Kraken parent Payward cuts 150 staff, streamlining business ahead of planned IPOAI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.More For YouThe bitcoin mining firm continues on its investment path into AI data centers after raising $115 million to expand its global footprint in the industry. What to know: HIVE Digital Technologies shares rose as much as 45% percent after the company said it spent $58 million on land in the Toronto area to build an industrial-scale AI computing center.The planned facility, to be developed through HIVE’s BUZZ High Performance Computing unit, is expected to support about 320MW...Read full story