Kraken parent Payward's Q2 pretax profit drops 71% amid crypto market slowdown

Payward, the parent company of U.S. exchange Kraken, posted $23 million in adjusted pretax profit for the second quarter, down 71% from $79.7 million a year earlier, Bloomberg reported. Adjusted revenue rose 17% on year to $508 million, while funded active accounts climbed 42% to a record 6.6 million. Payward attributed the profit decline to a crypto market slowdown and falling prices. Bloomberg added that Payward recently cut 150 jobs, citing efficiency gains from AI adoption, and may delay its previously discussed IPO timeline to late this year or early next year.