Payward to Acquire Reap for Payments Infrastructure

Payward Acquires Reap to Expand Payment Infrastructure

Cheyenne, Wyoming — Payward, Inc. announced on May 7, 2026 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Reap Technologies Holdings Limited. Reap is a card issuing and payment infrastructure company with stablecoin-native settlement capabilities. According to the announcement, Payward will pay up to $600 million in a combination of cash and stock, with the transaction valuing Payward’s equity at $20 billion.

Source and timeline note: Payward issuedPayward to Acquire Reap to Expand B2B Offering with Global Payments Infrastructurethrough Business Wire on May 7, 2026. The announcement shows that the transaction will expand the scope of Payward Services’ enterprise infrastructure offering and move it into global card issuing and payment infrastructure. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Payward is a unified financial infrastructure platform and the infrastructure provider behind products including Kraken. The announcement said Payward is built on a shared architecture, with services covering crypto asset trading, custody, tokenized assets, fiat on- and off-ramps, derivatives, clearing, and settlement capabilities. After Reap joins, Payward Services will extend these capabilities into card issuing, cross-border payments, and stablecoin treasury management.

Transaction Value of Up to $600 Million

According to the announcement, Payward will acquire Reap for consideration consisting of cash and Payward stock, with a maximum value of $600 million. The announcement also disclosed that the transaction values Payward’s equity at $20 billion. This valuation arrangement shows that Payward is expanding its regulated financial infrastructure business through acquisitions, rather than limiting product expansion to its cryptocurrency trading platform.

The main arrangements of the transaction include:

• Payward has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Reap, with maximum transaction consideration of $600 million.

• The payment method includes cash and Payward stock.

• The transaction values Payward’s equity at $20 billion.

• Reap will continue to operate as an independent platform within the Payward ecosystem after the transaction closes.

• Reap will retain its existing brand, go-to-market approach, and management team led by Daren Guo.

The announcement shows that Reap’s capabilities will be integrated into Payward Services. Payward Services provides partners with a single integration point, enabling them to build financial products that operate continuously. Through this platform, partners can access crypto asset trading, custody, tokenized assets, fiat on- and off-ramps, derivatives, and settlement capabilities within the same infrastructure layer. Reap’s addition will extend this service scope into global card and payment businesses.

Reap’s Business Complements Payward Enterprise Services

Payment Stack Connects Card Networks and Stablecoin Settlement

Reap was founded and is headquartered in Hong Kong, and is a financial technology company serving enterprises. Payward’s announcement said Reap provides stablecoin-native infrastructure that helps businesses connect traditional finance and digital asset systems through more efficient capital flows. Its business covers corporate cards, cross-border payments, treasury management, and embedded finance solutions.

Reap has built a card issuing and cross-border payments technology stack that connects card networks, traditional financial rails, and stablecoin-native settlement into anAPI-driven platform. The platform supports corporate card issuance, card program management, cross-border payments, and treasury management. For Payward, Reap provides payment endpoint and corporate money movement capabilities, while Payward’s existing strengths are concentrated in trading, custody, liquidity, and settlement infrastructure.

Reap’s business can complement Payward Services in the following areas:

• Card issuing capabilities: supporting enterprise clients in building card programs and corporate payment products.

• Cross-border payments: helping companies transfer funds across different markets.

• Stablecoin settlement: using stablecoins as a settlement tool in cross-border money movement and treasury management.

• Embedded finance: enabling partners to embed payment capabilities into their own products.

• Corporate treasury management: providing enterprise clients with stablecoin-related treasury operations capabilities.

The announcement disclosed that Reap processed billions of dollars in stablecoin transaction flow in 2025. Reap Co-Founder and CEO Daren Guo said stablecoins have already become one of the real-world applications in card payments, that the global stablecoin and crypto card market has exceeded $18 billion annually, and that Reap’s revenue and transaction volume nearly tripled in 2025.

“Stablecoins in card payments are one of the largest real-world applications today, and Reap is proud of its leadership position in this field.”

Payward Services Enters Global Card and Payments

Payward Services originally provided partners with a unified infrastructure entry point covering crypto asset trading, custody, tokenized assets, fiat on- and off-ramps, and derivatives. After Reap is added, partners will be able to access card issuing, cross-border payments, and stablecoin treasury management services through the same integration point, without separately connecting to multiple vendors or maintaining fragmented systems.

For enterprise clients and fintech platforms, payment infrastructure usually needs to handle card issuing, clearing, banking rails, compliance, treasury management, and transaction settlement at the same time. If different components are provided by multiple vendors, system integration costs and compliance coordination costs increase. Payward’s acquisition of Reap aims to bring trading, custody, payments, and stablecoin settlement into one enterprise-grade service framework.

1. First, Payward will connect its existing trading and custody infrastructure with Reap’s payments stack.

2. Second, partners can access multiple types of financial infrastructure through a single integration point.

3. Third, Reap’s card issuing and cross-border payment capabilities fill a payments-side gap in Payward Services.

4. Fourth, stablecoin settlement becomes an important link connecting digital assets and traditional payment networks.

5. Fifth, the two parties will jointly expand coverage across markets including Asia-Pacific, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

License Network Supports Regional Expansion

Reap Accelerates Payward’s Expansion into APAC and the Americas

Payward’s announcement said Reap’s existing licenses will accelerate Payward’s expansion inAPACand the Americas. At the same time, Payward’s licenses in theEUand theUSwill open market access for Reap in Europe and the United States. The two companies said their complementary regulatory footprints will support the expansion of stablecoin payment infrastructure into more high-growth markets.

This arrangement indicates that Payward is acquiring not only Reap’s technology capabilities, but also its regional market access capabilities. Payment infrastructure businesses depend heavily on local licenses, banking partnerships, card network connectivity, and compliance operating experience. For businesses involving stablecoin settlement and cross-border money movement, regulatory coverage directly affects the regions where products can be launched and the types of customers they can serve.

The announcement mentioned that the two parties already have the conditions to extend stablecoin-powered payment infrastructure into high-growth markets such as theMENAregion and Latin America. These regions have growth potential in cross-border remittances, corporate payments, U.S. dollar settlement, and digital payments. For stablecoin payment infrastructure to expand in these markets, it still needs to address licensing, anti-money laundering, consumer protection, and capital flow regulatory requirements across different jurisdictions.

Reap to Maintain Independent Platform Operations

After the transaction closes, Reap will continue to operate as an independent platform within the Payward ecosystem and will retain its own brand and go-to-market approach. The announcement said Reap’s leadership team will continue to be led by Daren Guo. This arrangement helps maintain Reap’s existing client relationships, product cadence, and regional market experience while leveraging Payward’s global liquidity, custody, and settlement infrastructure.

In merger integration, independent operating arrangements usually help reduce pressure from customer migration. Reap clients can continue using card issuing, cross-border payments, and stablecoin settlement capabilities through familiar product interfaces and service relationships, while Payward can provide deeper liquidity, risk management, license coverage, and settlement capabilities in the background.

Payward’s announcement also disclosed that Reap has more than 200 employees and serves global enterprise clients through stablecoin-native infrastructure. This scale gives Reap an operating foundation in corporate cards and cross-border payments, and also provides Payward with team and product support for expanding enterprise-grade financial infrastructure.

Stablecoin Payments Enter an M&A Expansion Phase

Payward Continues Capability-Based Acquisition Strategy

Payward said in the announcement that the acquisition of Reap continues its strategy of expanding the platform through capability-based transactions. The announcement listed previous acquisitions of NinjaTrader, Bitnomial, and Backed. NinjaTrader, Bitnomial, and Backed respectively added capabilities related to trading, derivatives, or tokenized assets, while Reap pushes the Payward platform further into global payment infrastructure.

From a transaction logic perspective, Payward is expanding its positioning from a crypto exchange operator into a financial infrastructure platform covering multi-asset trading, payments, and settlement. Kraken remains one of its core products, but Payward’s announcement shows that the company is placing greater emphasis on unified liquidity pools, unified risk and margin engines, unified collateral and settlement systems, and unified compliance and licensing frameworks.

Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in the announcement that the direction of finance includes continuous markets, programmable money, and autonomous execution. He also said stablecoins are the settlement base, whileAIagents are becoming new participants. His remarks show that Payward views Reap as the payments layer for future financial product deployment, rather than as a single payment tool.

“Reap is the payments layer needed for the next phase.”

Arjun Sethi also said card networks, banking rails, and blockchains can run on a single API and settle in stablecoins. This statement summarizes the technical direction behind Payward’s acquisition of Reap: connecting traditional payment systems and digital asset settlement systems through the same interface, then delivering them to enterprise clients through regulated infrastructure.

Enterprise Payment Demand Drives Stablecoin Adoption

The use of stablecoins in enterprise payments is mainly concentrated in scenarios such as cross-border settlement, working capital turnover, treasury management, and digital platform payments. In cross-border operations, enterprises often face bank processing times, complex settlement paths, opaque fees, and multi-currency management issues. If stablecoins can connect with card networks and banking rails, they may provide a faster method of money movement in certain scenarios.

However, the expansion of stablecoin payment infrastructure still needs to meet regulatory requirements. Requirements for stablecoin issuance, reserve assets, payment licenses, customer identification, and anti-money laundering obligations differ across regions. Payward and Reap’s emphasis on regulated infrastructure and licensing coverage in the announcement shows that compliance capability is one of the key conditions for whether the transaction can be implemented and scaled.

The market impact of this transaction is mainly reflected in three areas:

• Business level: Payward Services extends from trading and custody infrastructure into card issuing and cross-border payments.

• Regional level: Reap helps Payward strengthen market access in Asia-Pacific and the Americas.

• Product level: stablecoin settlement is integrated into enterprise-grade payment and treasury management workflows.

• Competitive level: the boundary between crypto asset platforms and payment infrastructure companies moves closer.

• Regulatory level: closing remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Transaction Still Awaits Regulatory Approval

Expected to Close in the Second Half of 2026

The announcement shows that Payward’s acquisition of Reap is expected to close in the second half of 2026, but remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Because the transaction involves payment infrastructure, stablecoin settlement, regional licenses, and cross-border business, regulatory review will be an important procedure before closing.

As of the May 7, 2026 announcement, Payward had not disclosed the detailed cash-to-stock ratio of the transaction, nor had it disclosed Reap’s specific revenue scale, profit figures, or customer list. The announcement focused on the maximum transaction value, Payward’s valuation, business complementarity, regional license synergies, independent operating arrangements, and expected closing timeline.

From an industry perspective, stablecoin payment infrastructure is becoming an important area of mergers and acquisitions for fintech and crypto asset companies. After traditional card networks, banking rails, and blockchain settlement capabilities are integrated into the same technology platform, enterprise clients can process payments, treasury management, and digital asset-related services within one system. Payward’s acquisition of Reap shows that large crypto infrastructure companies are expanding further into enterprise payments and global money movement markets.

Integration Results Still Need to Be Observed After Closing

Completion of the transaction does not mean business synergies will be realized immediately. Payward and Reap will still need to integrate technology interfaces, compliance frameworks, customer migration, product pricing, regional license usage, and risk management. Stablecoin payments involve price stability, reserve transparency, counterparty risk, blockchain network performance, and regulatory policy changes, all of which may affect the pace of adoption by enterprise clients.

For Payward, the acquisition of Reap can expand the service boundaries of its enterprise infrastructure platform. For Reap, joining Payward can provide broader liquidity, custody, settlement, and regulatory resources. For enterprise clients, after the transaction closes, they may gain a more unified access method for card issuing, cross-border payments, stablecoin treasury management, and digital asset infrastructure.

As of the announcement date, the arrangements clearly disclosed by the two parties include transaction consideration of up to $600 million, Payward’s $20 billion equity valuation, expected closing in the second half of 2026, Reap’s continued independent operation, and the complementarity of the two parties’ license networks. Further progress on the transaction remains subject to company announcements and regulatory approval outcomes.

Questions About Payward’s Acquisition of Reap