Is Kraken going bankrupt? What the Nasdaq…

No, Kraken is not going bankrupt. The opposite happened this week. On 10 September 2026, Nasdaq invested $100 million in Payward, Kraken's parent company, at a $21 billion valuation — up from the roughly $20 billion Payward sought in a funding round in May 2026. A stock exchange operator putting money in is the reverse signal of a company going under.

Yet the search "is Kraken bankrupt" spiked after the news broke. Understandable: big investment news about an exchange can sound like "something's wrong" to some people, when in fact this is an expansion of an existing partnership.

What Nasdaq and Payward actually announced

Nasdaq president Tal Cohen called the move part of "how efficiently and seamlessly capital and assets move across the financial system" (Nasdaq, 10 September 2026). The investment funds Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) — tokenised shares that will trade through Kraken's xStocks infrastructure, targeting a launch in the second quarter of 2027. Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the goal was to get "Nasdaq Equity Tokens onto rails that do not close, with shareholder rights intact."

The partnership itself already existed: Payward and Nasdaq have worked on tokenisation infrastructure since March 2025. This investment expands that relationship — it isn't a rescue.

Moment	Payward valuation
May 2026 (funding round)	roughly $20 billion
10 September 2026 (after Nasdaq investment)	$21 billion

Why an investment isn't a bankruptcy signal

An investor who buys equity does so expecting a return — not out of charity. Nasdaq ran due diligence beforehand; an operator with that reputation doesn't walk blindly into a company in trouble. The valuation went from roughly $20 billion to $21 billion in four months — a rise, not a write-down.

Who is Kraken, and why safety sits at its foundation

Kraken was co-founded in July 2011 by Jesse Powell, after he had watched Mt. Gox's security failures up close. When Mt. Gox itself collapsed in 2014, the trustee of that bankruptcy case specifically chose Kraken to help trace and repay remaining customer funds. Security is part of the founding story, not a later marketing claim.

By the end of 2024, the platform held $42.8 billion in assets across 2.6 million funded accounts. That's no guarantee for the future, but it is a scale that doesn't disappear overnight.

The European licence: what it does and doesn't cover

Kraken's European entity — Payward Europe Solutions Limited — received a MiCA authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland in June 2025, the first of its kind. More detail on exactly what it covers is in our earlier article on Kraken and MiCA. That authorisation requires, among other things, that client funds be kept segregated from the firm's own assets.

The downside worth naming: a MiCA authorisation is not a deposit guarantee scheme. At a bank, your balance up to €100,000 is covered by a guarantee fund; at a crypto exchange — however well regulated — that safety net doesn't exist. Segregating assets reduces the risk in a bankruptcy, but doesn't rule out loss entirely. If you don't want to carry that risk, keeping larger amounts in a hardware wallet rather than permanently on an exchange is the safer choice.

What you can check yourself

Is Kraken (as Payward Europe Solutions Limited) listed in the official ESMA CASP register? Check that yourself, not through a comparison site.
Can you withdraw funds without delay? A withdrawal delay is an earlier warning sign than investment news.
If you hold large crypto amounts long-term, consider self-custody alongside an exchange account.

Want to start on Kraken yourself? Through our Kraken cashback offer — affiliate link, we earn a commission if you open an account through it, at no extra cost to you — you get 10% of your trading fees back.

Frequently asked questions

Is Kraken bankrupt? No. On 10 September 2026, Nasdaq invested $100 million in Kraken parent Payward, at a $21 billion valuation.

What does the Nasdaq investment mean for my money on Kraken? Nothing directly. It's an investment in the parent holding company for a new product (tokenised Nasdaq shares via xStocks), not a change in how Kraken manages your funds. More on the announcement itself is in our article on the investment.

Does Kraken hold a licence in Europe? Yes. Payward Europe Solutions Limited has held a MiCA authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland since June 2025.

What happens to my crypto if an exchange collapses? That depends on how the exchange segregates assets and which jurisdiction applies. A MiCA authorisation requires client and company funds to be kept separate, but there's no deposit guarantee scheme like at a bank.

This article is informational, not financial advice. Crypto carries price risk; never invest more than you can afford to lose.

Sources

Last checked on 13 September 2026:

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