Kraken IPO Slides Toward 2027, Four Weeks After CEO Publicly Reaffirmed Filing

Kraken's US public listing may now slip into 2027, just over a month after the cryptocurrency exchange's co-CEO Arjun Sethi publicly reaffirmed that its confidential filing remained on track.

Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter, that the Payward-operated exchange is now eyeing a 2027 debut. The same person said Kraken had also cut around 150 staff as it rolled out artificial intelligence tools across its operations. Kraken has not commented publicly on the report.

The shift puts the company back in the same holding pattern it has occupied since last November, when it first submitted a confidential draft Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Path Since November: Filed, Paused, Reaffirmed, Delayed

Sethi used a panel at the Semafor World Economy event in Washington in mid-April to confirm Kraken's IPO plans remained intact, even after reports a month earlier suggested the company had paused its market debut.

That same event coincided with a $200 million investment from Deutsche Börse Group at a $13.3 billion valuation. That figure was already 33% below the $20 billion peak Kraken hit in late 2025, after raising $800 million from investors including Jane Street and Citadel Securities.

The April messaging was clear: the IPO had not been shelved. One month later, the public timeline now stretches well into 2027, with no Kraken executive yet confirming the date.

The pattern matches an earlier sequence. Kraken filed confidentially with the SEC in November 2025, only to pause those plans in March as Bitcoin and other digital assets sold off and crypto-firm valuations softened.

Strong Numbers, Weaker Listing Window

What makes the latest slip notable is the company's underlying performance, which would not normally suggest a strained listing path. Kraken's 2025 revenue jumped 33% to $2.2 billion, adjusted EBITDA reached $530.6 million and total transaction volume hit $2 trillion. Funded accounts climbed 50% year-on-year to 5.7 million.

The exchange has also been spending aggressively. Recent deals include futures broker NinjaTrader, tokenization platform Backed Finance, token management firm Magna and, in April, a Bitnomial acquisition for up to $550 million that gave Kraken full CFTC licensing for US derivatives.

Its Cyprus arm now holds a MiFID II license, and the company has partnered with Nasdaq and Deutsche Börse on tokenized equities frameworks. Tokenized stocks on its platform have already passed $5 billion in volume since launch.

Even with that performance, the listing backdrop has stayed difficult. Several listed crypto exchanges reported first-quarter losses, and earlier 2026 listings, including BitGo, have traded unevenly after their debuts. Revolut similarly pushed its long-discussed IPO into 2028 last month.

AI Cuts Provide the Cost Backdrop

The Bloomberg report ties Kraken's 150-person reduction to wider AI deployment across the business. For a company that has raised more than $1 billion in primary capital across the past year, the headcount move is small in absolute terms, and the same source said there are no further cuts planned.

The cost adjustment still fits a broader sector pattern. Coinbase reduced its workforce by 14%, or about 700 people, on May 5, citing both AI adoption and softer market conditions. Block, the payments and crypto firm led by Jack Dorsey, cut roughly 4,000 jobs in February.

Gemini, Crypto.com and crypto data company Dune have also reduced headcount, each pointing to AI-driven efficiency gains. Finance Magnates earlier noted that AI has become the default narrative in broker and exchange layoff disclosures.

Total crypto-sector job cuts have now passed 5,000 for the year. Whether Kraken's 2027 target holds will likely depend on where Bitcoin and the broader digital-asset market sit by the time the SEC filing becomes effective.

For now, Sethi's April assurance has given way to a fresh slip, with the company yet to speak on the record about when its long-discussed listing will actually happen.

Kraken Parent Reports Higher Quarterly Revenue

Against that backdrop, Payward, Kraken’s parent company, reported first-quarter adjusted revenue of $507 million, up 3% from a year earlier, supported by stronger futures trading and newer business lines. Futures DARTs rose 51% year over year.

Total transaction volume reached $357 billion during the quarter, while funded accounts rose 47% to 6.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $18 million as the company continued investing in acquisitions, products and regulatory infrastructure.