Payward reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter, up 17% from a year earlier, despite a 13% decline in total platform transaction volume to $310 billion. The results show the company relying less on spot cryptocurrency trading and more on asset-based services, equities and regulated product infrastructure as activity across digital-asset markets cooled.
Adjusted EBITDA, a measure of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, reached $23 million for the quarter ended June 30. Payward said it gained spot market share for a third consecutive quarter, indicating that its own trading activity held up better than the wider market even as total volumes fell.
Asset-based and other revenue accounted for 60% of Payward’s total revenue, compared with 55% a year earlier, according to the disclosure released Friday. That category can include income tied to customer assets and services beyond transaction fees, giving the company a larger revenue base that does not depend entirely on daily buying and selling activity.
Revenue holds near first-quarter level
Payward’s second-quarter adjusted revenue was nearly unchanged from the $507 million it reported for the first quarter. The stable quarter-to-quarter result came after the company generated $2.2 billion in adjusted revenue during full-year 2025.
The performance contrasts with the pressure on conventional crypto spot trading. Payward’s platform volume fell to $310 billion from the prior-year period, yet revenue rose, suggesting the company earned more from services with different economics than basic token transactions.
The company said transaction activity shifted toward equities and tokenized equities. Tokenized equities are blockchain-based instruments designed to provide exposure to traditional shares or related financial products. Their presence on a crypto platform can broaden the range of products used by customers while connecting trading activity more closely to regulated securities markets.
The changing mix also reduces the weight of highly cyclical spot-market commissions in Payward’s revenue. Spot trading normally benefits most directly from volatile crypto markets and rapid changes in token prices. Asset-based revenue and non-crypto products can produce a more even contribution when those conditions weaken.
Funded accounts rise after MiCA authorization
Funded accounts increased 42% year over year to 6.6 million. Payward attributed part of that growth to activity in the European Economic Area following authorization under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, framework.
MiCA created a single regulatory structure for crypto-asset service providers operating across the European Economic Area. Authorization can allow a firm to offer services in multiple member states under a harmonized system rather than navigating separate national licensing regimes.
Payward reported $40 billion in assets on platform as of the quarter’s disclosure. The combination of higher funded accounts and a larger asset-based revenue share places greater emphasis on the company’s ability to retain customer balances and provide products around them, rather than merely process trades.
That approach carries a different set of business priorities. Trading platforms pursuing asset-based income need to compete on custody, payments, recurring services and access to regulated markets, while also maintaining the compliance systems needed to operate across jurisdictions.
Acquisitions expand derivatives, payments and wallet services
Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial, a derivatives venue, on May 1. The deal gave the company a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated derivatives stack, expanding its ability to offer products beyond spot markets.
Derivatives allow traders to take positions linked to the price of an underlying asset without necessarily buying or selling that asset directly. A regulated U.S. derivatives operation gives Payward infrastructure that could support futures and related products within the CFTC framework.
The company added stablecoin payments capabilities after closing its purchase of Reap on July 1, shortly after the end of the reported quarter. Reap operates a stablecoin payments platform, a segment that links blockchain-based dollar tokens with merchant and business payment flows.
On July 27, Payward also agreed to acquire Magic Labs’ wallet infrastructure business. The transaction is intended to add embedded wallets to Payward’s business-to-business services. Embedded wallets can allow an application or company to offer wallet functions directly within its own product, removing some of the setup steps that have traditionally separated crypto services from mainstream financial apps.
Together, the transactions extend Payward’s reach across three areas that are less reliant on retail spot volumes: regulated derivatives, payments and software infrastructure. The acquisitions also put the company in more direct competition with firms building financial technology for businesses rather than only serving customers who trade cryptocurrencies.
Public-listing timetable remains unsettled
Payward’s route to public markets remains unresolved. The company confidentially filed a draft S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 19, 2025, and publicly confirmed plans for an initial public offering in April. It later paused the listing process in March and has not announced a revised timetable.
A confidential S-1 allows a prospective issuer to begin SEC review without immediately making its registration materials public. Companies can use the process to prepare for a listing while retaining flexibility over the timing of a public offering.
Payward was valued at $20 billion in a November funding round, according to the supplied disclosure. Its second-quarter results provide a new reference point for any eventual public-market plans: revenue is holding near record levels, but the composition of that revenue is moving away from the spot-trading business that historically defined major crypto platforms.
The quarter leaves Payward with a clearer operational challenge than a simple volume rebound. It must show that its growing base of funded accounts, European regulatory access, derivatives operation and new payments and wallet businesses can sustain revenue when cryptocurrency trading remains subdued.
Explore tokenization’s growth beyond Payward—learn how tokenized equities reshape revenues, regulation, and multi-asset trading strategies.
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