Kraken parent Payward has agreed to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, the parent company of Lithuania-based Saldo Bank, with completion expected in 2027. The purchase price has not been disclosed.
Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, announced on 14 October that it had agreed to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, the parent company of Lithuania-based Saldo Bank. The acquisition is scheduled to close in 2027, subject to regulatory approval, but the purchase price has not been disclosed.
Once the acquisition is completed, Payward is expected to gain an operating platform in the EU using a banking license, enabling it to offer traditional financial services such as deposits, lending and payments in addition to digital-asset trading. Saldo Bank holds a banking license in Lithuania, operates in Finland, Sweden and Germany, and has passporting rights to provide services in the Netherlands.
Payward said it plans to combine banking functions with its existing services to offer EU customers interest-bearing deposits, lending, credit cards and euro-denominated payments. It aims to integrate digital-asset operations, such as those of Kraken, with banking functions. Sethi (セティ氏), Payward's co-CEO, explained that having an EU bank under its umbrella would enable the company to centralize the holding, movement and management of European customers' assets.