Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, announced an agreement on 14 October 2026 to acquire Lithuania’s Saldo Bank through its Finnish holding company, Saldo Finance Oy. The transaction is expected to close in 2027, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals. The acquisition would broaden the group’s European offering, adding interest-bearing deposits and lending to its crypto-asset services. While some traditional institutions continue to assess how to enter the crypto market, firms originating in the sector are investing to compete in deposit-taking and lending. Competition is thus extending to the broader financial relationship with clients.
The significance of the acquisition
Saldo Bank’s strategic value lies in access to an established banking infrastructure. Payward would acquire an institution authorized to accept deposits, provide credit and deliver payment services, together with the expertise and operational capabilities required to support these activities. For a crypto firm, integrating a bank can reduce reliance on external intermediaries and provide greater autonomy in developing its services. Kraken’s strategy therefore recognizes the continuing importance of traditional banking functions as crypto-asset services evolve. Integrating these functions would also entail the corresponding management and control obligations. The transaction illustrates how the growth of crypto-native firms can extend into banking, bringing them into direct competition with institutions that have supported part of their operations.
From trading to a banking relationship
Payward intends to play a broader role in meeting the financial needs of European clients. Combining deposits and lending with trading services could encourage more frequent use of the platform and strengthen the continuity of the relationship. An investor who uses an exchange solely to buy bitcoin may keep cash at a bank and rely on that institution for other financial needs. A broader offering would allow some of those funds and transactions to remain within the same group. Retaining client funds between investments therefore has commercial significance. Kraken could capture a larger share of clients’ assets and strengthen its relationship with them during periods of lower activity in crypto markets.
Entering banking would allow Payward to diversify its revenue sources, supplementing trading fees with interest income generated from lending funded by deposits. The difference between interest earned on loans and the cost of remunerating deposits would provide a source of income distinct from trading revenues. The project also includes banking-as-a-service capabilities, allowing other businesses to use the institution’s infrastructure and operational resources to develop their own financial offerings. Saldo Bank could therefore contribute both to services for the group’s clients and to relationships with third parties, extending its commercial opportunities beyond the direct provision of financial products.
Authorizations and European expansion
The acquisition of Saldo Bank would expand Payward’s European operations, which are organized through several specialized entities. Payward Ireland Limited has been authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland as an electronic money institution since 25 September 2023. For investment services governed by MiFID II, the group operates through Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, a company first authorized by CySEC on 13 November 2017, whose acquisition was announced on 3 February 2025. On 25 June 2025, the group also announced Irish MiCA authorizations for Payward Europe Solutions Limited and Payward Global Solutions Limited, covering crypto-asset services and the operation of the trading platform respectively. Adding Saldo Bank would allow deposit-taking and lending to sit alongside these activities.
Saldo Bank’s banking passport would enable the group to develop its offering throughout the European Economic Area, either by providing services across borders or by establishing branches, without obtaining a separate banking license in each country. The institution already uses this framework to serve clients in Finland, Sweden and Germany, and is entitled to operate in the Netherlands. Expansion into additional markets would require the relevant notifications to supervisory authorities, within the scope of its authorized activities and subject to applicable local rules. Once the acquisition is completed, Payward would therefore have a banking platform for further European expansion. Its actual development would depend on the markets selected, the services notified and the group’s commercial priorities.
Competition between banks and crypto firms
For many years, some European financial institutions viewed crypto-assets with skepticism, placing greater emphasis on assessing risks than on exploring opportunities for growth. Waiting for a harmonized regulatory framework, which became fully applicable only at the end of 2024 under MiCA, also contributed to this cautious approach. Meanwhile, several leading crypto firms broadened their presence in traditional finance, developing tokenized financial instruments and obtaining authorizations under MiFID II to expand their investment services. Payward’s agreement for Saldo Bank takes this process a step further into deposit-taking and lending. Crypto-native firms have thus moved ahead of part of the banking sector in the convergence of the two markets, building broader offerings while several institutions were still assessing how to enter the crypto market.
Several major European banking groups have nevertheless recognized the potential of crypto-assets and begun integrating them into their services. In Spain, BBVA, CaixaBank and the Santander group, through Openbank, are entitled to provide services under MiCA. In Germany, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and DZ BANK have followed a similar path. In Italy, Banca Sella has completed the notification process to provide crypto-asset custody and transfer services. This opening comes, however, as major crypto firms are extending their offerings to more traditional financial needs. Banks face the risk of losing their role in managing crypto investors’ assets, as clients could move funds and investments currently held with traditional institutions to these platforms. A relationship established to buy bitcoin could evolve to encompass a broader share of a client’s wealth. Entering the crypto market therefore also matters to banks’ ability to retain their position in these clients’ wider financial lives.
Conclusions
The Saldo Bank agreement gives concrete form to a shift in the role of crypto firms, which are using the expertise, infrastructure and commercial relationships developed in their own sector to expand into traditional finance. Completing the acquisition would allow Payward to extend this process to deposit-taking and lending, drawing on a client base built through crypto-asset investment services. For European banks, this development increases the strategic importance of decisions about entering the sector, including their ability to retain a central role in managing clients’ wealth. The head start gained by crypto-native firms must nevertheless translate into successful integration of banking services and the ability to attract funds currently held with traditional institutions. Those results will determine the significance of this convergence, showing how far relationships established in the crypto market can influence where clients hold their savings and how financial revenues are distributed.
