Custody banking giant BNY continues its strategic expansion in digital assets through a new partnership with Payward, the Wyoming-based parent company of crypto exchange Kraken. The latest development sees Payward connecting to Singapore Gulf Bank's SGB Net, providing 24/7 U.S. dollar settlement for select institutional clients across Asia and the Gulf region. As reported by AMBCrypto, the partnership allows eligible SGB clients to deposit money with Payward and make funds available for trading immediately, including during weekends. The service begins with U.S. dollar transactions for a select group of clients in eligible Asian and Gulf region jurisdictions, with plans to expand to more clients and currencies over time, though no specific timeline has been announced.
The partnership could cover areas including crypto products, custody, wealth management, trading, payments and infrastructure, as reported by CoinDesk. Elements of the proposed partnership could resemble the infrastructure component of Payward's recent agreement with Nasdaq, one of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. A deal with BNY would further Payward's push to connect its digital-asset operations with established financial institutions. BNY, formerly known as Bank of New York Mellon, provides custody, asset servicing, clearing and wealth-management services to institutional clients, with services aligning with Payward's expanding financial-services platform.
Singapore Gulf Bank launched SGB Net in May 2025 as a real-time, multi-currency clearing network for businesses operating across conventional and digital financial markets. According to Payward's October 5 announcement, SGB Net now processes more than $20 billion in fiat transactions each month, providing the infrastructure with operating scale that allows real-time processing capabilities. The bank is licensed as a conventional wholesale bank by Bahrain's central bank regulator and is backed by Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore-based Whampoa Group. The network has expanded through partnerships with Standard Chartered in May and J.P. Morgan's correspondent banking network in January, providing uninterrupted U.S. dollar payments across borders.
The partnership extends beyond settlement to include Kraken Prime, which will serve as an additional liquidity source for Singapore Gulf Bank's institutional clients. Kraken Prime serves institutional investors that need access to digital-asset trading, liquidity, financing and other services through Payward's infrastructure. SGB CEO Shawn Chan stated that "clients can move funds when they need to" through the connection between settlement and liquidity. The companies did not disclose expected trading volume, supported cryptocurrencies or the number of institutions included in the initial launch, though the service is available to qualified institutional clients. As reported by AMBCrypto, this partnership enables SGB to integrate with Kraken Prime, adding digital asset liquidity to its banking relationships, with potential for expansion into other currencies and more clients in the future.
Mark Greenberg, Payward's chief commercial officer, explained that the deal targets a fundamental issue affecting crypto markets. While assets trade all weekend and around the clock, the cash that funds those trades often remains subject to bank cut-off times and multi-day settlement. "Exchanges, payment providers, OTC desks and fintechs all run into the same banking constraint: settlement stops when the business day does, while their markets do not," Greenberg added. The partnership addresses this mismatch by making deposited funds immediately available through SGB Net. Payward is expanding beyond Kraken's exchange business into the infrastructure that connects trading, custody, payments and banking, following reports of BNY's discussions with Payward over a potential tie-up spanning digital assets, custody, trading and payments. The SGB deal demonstrates Payward's intent to build a banking network rather than adding just one channel, with the banking network potentially creating positive network effects if more regulated banking institutions join the platform.
