Miami Beach, FL – Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said the crypto exchange is “about 80% ready” to go public, underscoring the firm’s IPO ambitions as the company rolls out a new partnership with MoneyGram aimed at solving crypto’s “last mile” problem.
Speaking with Anthony Soohoo, chairman and CEO of MoneyGram, at Consensus Miami, Sethi framed the deal as a way to bridge the gap between digital assets and physical cash, a critical gap in global adoption. MoneyGram brings scale: around 500,000 retail locations worldwide.
CoinDesk reported in March that Kraken had put its IPO plans on hold following a confidential filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November, with sources saying it may revisit a listing when market conditions improve.
“This is the first step in working together to solve the last mile,” Soohoo said, noting that “in many situations customers will still have access to cash.”
This is especially true in regions where the financial infrastructure is lagging. “People need cash at an onboarding point,” Sethi said, pointing to markets in Latin America and beyond. “Partnering with MoneyGram helps solve that.”
Moderator Ben Weiss noted that users are increasingly treating exchanges like banks. Sethi said the shift reflects a deeper transformation. “A lot of what banks used to do is now being done by crypto companies.”
Both executives pointed to stablecoins as a key unlock. Soohoo said they can “remove waste” and lower costs across the system, while Sethi was more blunt: “Intermediaries are the losers here, but they should be.”
On Kraken’s IPO, Sethi said the company has filed but is waiting for the right time. “We’re ready,” he said, citing a broader industry reset driven by automation and tighter cost discipline.
MoneyGram, taken private in 2023, is in no rush. “We are focused on rebuilding the business,” Soohoo said, emphasizing long-term value over quarterly pressures.
The common goal: cheaper, faster financial access, especially for those outside the traditional system.
Read more: Kraken’s parent company Payward buys derivatives exchange Bitnomial for $550 million in cash and stock
