Kraken

The PaypersPayward / Saldo BankHigh impactIndependent report

The Paypers reports that Payward signed a definitive agreement to acquire Saldo Finance Oy, parent of Lithuania’s Saldo Bank. Closing is expected in 2027 and remains subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions. Saldo Bank already has SEPA access and a European banking footprint.

CoinDeskStripe / PrivyMaterial changeIndependent report

CoinDesk reports, in an interview with Henri Stern, that Stripe plans to expand stablecoin card programs to more than 100 countries by year-end. Stern has added oversight of Stripe’s stablecoins and crypto to his Privy role. The country count is a target, not current availability; tokenized deposits and other use cases remain exploratory.

CoinDeskPayward / KrakenHigh impactIndependent report

CoinDesk reports that Payward, Kraken’s Wyoming-based parent, has spent the past two years acquiring and building futures, derivatives, tokenized-stock and banking capabilities as it pursues one infrastructure stack for trading, banking, asset management and B2B services. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi described the plan as a common ledger and regulatory stack; these are management’s strategic claims, not evidence of live cross-border payment scale.