Kraken Parent Payward Cuts 150 Jobs in Pre-IPO Restructuring at $20B Valuation Target.

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, is laying off approximately 150 employees — around 5% of its roughly 3,000-person global workforce — as part of an optimization and restructuring effort ahead of a planned public listing. The company confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the U.S. SEC last November and is currently seeking fresh funding at a $20 billion valuation.

The cuts follow a familiar pre-IPO playbook: trim headcount to tighten margins and present a leaner cost structure to prospective public-market investors. For Kraken, which has navigated years of regulatory scrutiny in the U.S., the timing signals the exchange is serious about getting its books in order before the listing window opens.

At a $20 billion target valuation, Payward would rank among the largest crypto-native companies to attempt a U.S. public offering. How the market receives that number —…