Crypto Market Update: Kraken Parent Payword Acquires Derivatives Exchange Bitnomial

Kraken strikes US$550 million Bitnomial buyout deal

Kraken’s parent company, Payword, is agreed to acquire Cheyenne-based derivatives exchange Bitnomial exchanges up to US$550 million.

The cash and stock deal brings Payward’s total equity valuation to an impressive US$20 billion.

The strategic purchase gives Kraken immediate access to Bitnomial’s decade-long infrastructure, including natively built crypto settlement, collateral management and continuous 24/7 trading markets. A

The acquisition is the latest step towards highly aggressive growth for the exchange, which recently purchased futures platform NinjaTrader for US$1.5 billion along with several token and proprietary trading firms.

The company is also in the process of maintaining its confidential IPO filing with the SEC ahead of the anticipated public listing.

Canary tests SEC limits with PEPE ETF filing

Asset manager Canary Capital has formally submitted a S-1 Registration Statement The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot PEPE ETF.

If approved, the proposed fund will directly hold the popular frog-themed token, maintaining only a partial Ethereum balance to cover associated network and transaction fees. The Trust is designed to issue and redeem shares in a 10,000-share basket, accepting both cash and in-kind PEPEs from authorized participants.

Sitting as the 45th largest digital asset with a market capitalization of approximately US$1.48 billion, PEI has enough liquidity to justify an institutional wrapper in the eyes of Canary’s leadership.

Circle faces class-action over US$285 million DeFi exploit

Stablecoin giant Circle is finding itself in the legal crosshairs after disgruntled Drift Protocol investors filed a class action lawsuit in connection with a devastating hack worth US$285 million.

The controversy stems from a April 1st exploit on a Solana-based DeFi platform, during which attackers drained massive amounts of capital using weaponized administrative transfers.

The lawsuit specifically targets an eight-hour window where the hackers successfully completed a move of US$232 million in USDC from Solana to Ethereum via Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol. The plaintiffs argue that Circle was negligent in freezing the stolen funds while the cross-chain transfers were being executed.

Circle has fiercely defended its position, with executives including CEO Jeremy Allaire arguing that unilaterally freezing assets without formal law enforcement or a court order creates a dangerous moral hazard.

HIVE Digital expands senior notes offering

Hive Digital Technologies (TSXV:HIVE,NASDAQ:HIVE) has announced the size and pricing of a private offering of unsecured notes. The company is now selling US$100 million in 0 percent exchangeable senior notes due 2031, up from the initial US$75 million, with an option for an additional US$15 million.

The deal is scheduled to close on April 21.

With cash earmarked for general corporate use, capital investment and data center development, net income is expected to be between US$95 million and US$109.5 million.

On the dilution front, HIVE is hedging approximately US$17.2 million of cash-settled calls, intended to minimize the impact on the share count if the notes are ultimately converted.

Additionally, HIVE announced conditional approval from the TSX to list its common shares, with trading on the main board expected to commence around April 30, while the stock will be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange.