On the 5th of October, Kraken’s parent company, Payward, and Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB), a licensed digital bank fully regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, announced their strategic partnership.
Both partners are addressing the settlement gap between always-on crypto markets and traditional banking hours through this agreement.
With SGB’s integration into Payward’s services (SGB Net), institutions based in Asia and the Gulf will now be able to settle in U.S. dollars around-the-clock via a seamless process.
This means that clients will no longer have to wait until the next available banking window to move funds. This includes after bank hours and on weekends.
Moreover, SGB Net currently handles over $20 billion in fiat transactions per month. This will in turn provide the infrastructure with an operating scale that allows it to provide real-time processing capabilities.
Commenting on the partnership, Payward’s chief commercial officer, Mark Greenberg, said the partnership addresses a key mismatch between banking hours and 24/7 digital asset markets. His comments further highlight why continuous settlement is important for institutional investors.
Meanwhile, SGB CEO Shawn Chan stressed liquidity can only be valuable if clients can actually withdraw funds as they require them. This highlights the two primary functions, which are fast settlement and increased access to deep liquidity.
Additionally, this partnership enables SGB to integrate with Kraken Prime. This would enable the addition of digital asset liquidity to its banking relationships.
Although the initial focus of the new service was on settling USD among a small number of clients, the service could eventually broaden out later on.
Thus, if Kraken Prime expands into other currencies and accepts more clients, then institutional investors may find that moving their capital is easier and more convenient.
Payward expands its banking reach
The SGB deal also demonstrates Payward’s intent to build a banking network rather than adding just one channel. In September, its SoFi partnership opened a route for 24/7 USD transfers through the SoFi Exchange Network.
SGB is now extending this model throughout the Asian and Gulf regions, thereby increasing Payward’s footprint globally. Both agreements combine access to banking with Kraken Prime, which ties together money movement and market trading.
The banking network can create a positive network effect if more regulated banking institutions join the platform. However, there may be increased scale based upon client usage.
Therefore, moving ahead, Payward’s next challenge will be turning expanding banking connections into sustained institutional activity.
Final Summary
- Payward is expanding 24/7 banking infrastructure across Asia and the Gulf, strengthening institutional access to digital-asset markets.
- Payward’s broader banking network could gain traction as settlement volumes, institutional clients, and supported currencies increase.