Kraken’s Parent Payward Taps SGB for Instant Crypto Settlement

TLDR:

• Payward will offer 24/7 instant settlement through SGB Net to selected institutional clients.
• The service initially supports U.S. dollar transactions across selected Asian and Gulf markets.
• SGB Net now processes more than $20 billion in fiat transactions each month.
• SGB will use Kraken Prime for digital-asset liquidity and pricing for its customers.

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, has partnered with Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB) to provide 24/7 instant settlement for institutional digital asset clients in selected Asian and Gulf markets.

The partnership connects Payward to SGB Net, SGB’s real-time, multi-currency clearing network. The service will initially support U.S. dollar transactions for a select group of clients, with more clients and currencies planned.

How Payward’s 24/7 Settlement Network Works

SGB Net allows institutional clients to move funds between banking and digital asset infrastructure without waiting for traditional banking cut-off times.

Historically, bank settlement has followed business hours and fixed processing windows. Digital asset markets, however, operate continuously throughout the week.

Under the new arrangement, an SGB client can deposit funds with Payward and deploy them instantly. This could reduce delays between funding an account and accessing digital asset markets.

The initial rollout covers U.S. dollar transactions for selected clients in specific jurisdictions across Asia and the Gulf region. Payward and SGB plan to expand the service over time.

SGB Net launched in 2025 for digital asset businesses with increasing operational requirements. According to the companies, the network now processes more than $20 billion in fiat transactions each month.

The partnership also links SGB with Kraken Prime, Payward’s full-service prime brokerage platform. SGB will use Kraken Prime as an additional source of digital asset liquidity and pricing for its customers.

Payward Banking Expansion Connects Settlement and Liquidity

The partnership extends Payward’s broader effort to strengthen its banking infrastructure for institutional clients.

Payward Banking serves as the money layer supporting deposits, payments, cards, custody, and lending across the platform. Adding regulated banking partners can help connect traditional financial services with continuously operating digital asset markets.

For institutional traders, the key change is the timing of capital movement. Faster settlement can allow eligible clients to fund digital asset activity without waiting for the next banking window.

SGB is regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain and is backed by Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore’s Whampoa Group.

SGB Chief Executive Officer Shawn Chan said liquidity becomes more useful when clients can move funds when needed. The partnership therefore combines two important parts of institutional crypto infrastructure: access to liquidity and access to settlement.

For traders and institutions, the immediate offering remains limited to selected clients and U.S. dollar transactions. Its broader significance depends on whether Payward expands access across additional jurisdictions and currencies.

The SGB Net handles real-time fiat clearing while Kraken Prime provides digital asset market access. Together, the infrastructure will bring banking settlement closer to the continuous operating model of crypto markets.

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