Kraken Parent Adds 24/7 Settlement Through SGB Net

Payward, the company behind Kraken, has integrated SGB Net to give selected institutional clients access to 24/7 digital asset settlement. The live service starts with US dollar transactions, but the announcement does not name the jurisdictions, markets or asset pairs involved.

The partnership between Payward and Singapore Gulf Bank addresses a timing problem that has long followed institutional crypto. Digital asset markets trade continuously, while traditional bank settlement has relied on business hours and fixed cut-off times.

What Changes for Clients

Through the integration, an SGB client can deposit funds with Payward through SGB Net and deploy them immediately. Settlement is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

That replaces the wait associated with bank-based settlement, which the partners say has historically taken days. The key change is access time, not the launch of a new digital asset market. Neither company named specific trading venues, spot or derivatives markets, or asset pairs using the service.

For you, the practical effect is likely to be strongest inside Payward's institutional business, not ordinary activity on Kraken. The announcement covers institutional clients of both companies and does not say that retail Kraken users can use SGB Net.

SGB is also partnering with Kraken Prime, Payward's prime brokerage platform, to access liquidity. Over the coming months, SGB plans to use Payward's markets to price trades for its customers. The announcement does not confirm whether Kraken Prime onboarding is already live.

Live Service, Limited Scope

This is already live, not just a pilot proposal. It initially covers US dollar transactions for a select number of clients. Payward and SGB plan to add more clients and currencies over time.

The scale behind the network is substantial, although it should not be confused with usage by Payward. SGB launched SGB Net in 2025, and the network now processes more than $20 billion in fiat transactions each month. The announcement provides no separate figure for transactions settled through Payward.

SGB is a digital bank regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain. It is backed by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore's Whampoa Group.

The integration sits within Payward Banking, its cash layer for deposits, payments, cards, custody and lending. Payward also operates common liquidity, risk, collateral, settlement and compliance systems across products including Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks and CF Benchmarks.

Why It Matters

Payward chief commercial officer Mark Greenberg framed the problem directly:

“Settlement stops when the business day does, while their markets do not.”

Instant settlement could reduce idle time between funding a trade and putting the capital to work. It may also let SGB bring its banking clients closer to Kraken Prime liquidity without waiting for conventional banking hours.

The remaining limits matter. SGB Net settlement is confined to specific jurisdictions, although those jurisdictions were not named. The first stage covers only selected clients and US dollar transactions, and the Kraken Prime pricing arrangement is still described as a plan for the coming months.

For Kraken's wider customer base, the important test will be whether Payward extends the service beyond the initial group and adds currencies. Until then, the change is a live institutional settlement link, not a new 24/7 service for every Kraken user.