Kraken parent Payward has connected to Singapore Gulf Bank’s SGB Net, giving selected institutional clients in Asia and the Gulf access to round-the-clock U.S. dollar settlement. The partnership links Payward to the bank’s real-time, multi-currency clearing network and allows qualifying transactions to settle outside normal banking hours.
Payward announced the arrangement on Oct. 5. The initial rollout is limited to U.S. dollars and a selected group of institutional customers in supported jurisdictions. The companies expect to add more currencies and clients later, although neither has provided a timetable for that expansion.
Singapore Gulf Bank will also connect to Kraken Prime under the agreement. The bank plans to use Payward’s markets as another source of digital-asset liquidity when pricing trades for its customers over the coming months.
The partnership therefore combines two functions: continuous fiat settlement for eligible institutions and an additional liquidity connection for Singapore Gulf Bank.
SGB Net extends dollar settlement beyond banking hours
SGB Net allows participating customers to transfer fiat funds without waiting for standard banking hours. Through its integration with Payward, an eligible Singapore Gulf Bank client can deposit money with Payward and make those funds available for trading immediately, including on weekends.
The service begins with U.S. dollar transfers. Payward and SGB have said additional currencies and more customers are expected to follow, but they have not announced dates for subsequent phases.
Payward Chief Commercial Officer Mark Greenberg described the problem the companies are trying to address as a mismatch between continuous digital-asset trading and traditional banking cut-off times. Digital-asset markets can continue operating while conventional settlement processes stop at the end of a business day.
Greenberg summarized the issue by saying that settlement stops when the business day does. The new connection is intended to give the selected institutions covered by the rollout access to dollar settlement at any hour rather than requiring them to wait for banking windows to reopen.
Payward has already used a similar model with SoFi
The SGB arrangement follows a similar structure Payward pursued in the United States. In September, a SoFi-Payward partnership connected Payward to SoFi’s real-time payment network and gave qualified institutional clients access to round-the-clock U.S. dollar transfers.
Under that agreement, SoFi also added Kraken Prime as another liquidity source for digital-asset orders. Kraken agreed to list SoFiUSD, while SoFi said Kraken Prime would supplement the crypto liquidity sources it already used.
The Singapore Gulf Bank agreement extends the settlement model into selected jurisdictions across Asia and the Gulf, but through a separate regulated banking network.
The new partnership does not mean that every SGB customer immediately receives the service. The initial phase remains restricted to selected institutional customers in supported jurisdictions, and U.S. dollars are the only settlement currency publicly confirmed at launch.
SGB Net reports more than $20 billion in monthly fiat volume
Singapore Gulf Bank launched SGB Net in May 2025. The system was designed as a real-time, multi-currency clearing network for businesses operating across conventional and digital financial markets.
According to Payward’s Oct. 5 announcement, SGB Net now processes more than $20 billion in fiat transactions each month. That figure comes from the companies and was not independently audited in the material reviewed for the report.
Earlier figures were considerably smaller. A Singapore Gulf Bank update published in February 2026 cited more than $2 billion in monthly fiat transaction volume. Later partnerships expanded the bank’s payment and correspondent banking connections.
Singapore Gulf Bank’s website identifies the institution as a conventional wholesale bank licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, despite the Singapore name.
The bank is backed by Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat and Singapore-based Whampoa Group. It obtained its banking license before launching corporate services in late 2024, followed by SGB Net in 2025.
SGB expanded its banking connections before the Payward deal
SGB Net has since developed links with established banking institutions. In May, Singapore Gulf Bank announced a partnership with Standard Chartered designed to improve multi-currency clearing and settlement across markets in Asia and the Middle East.
That payment corridor partnership focused on correspondent banking infrastructure and faster settlement for businesses operating in digital-asset markets.
Earlier, in January, Singapore Gulf Bank joined J.P. Morgan’s correspondent banking network and adopted Wire 365. The service provides U.S. dollar clearing every day of the year. SGB said this gave customers uninterrupted access to cross-border dollar payments.
These relationships form part of the banking infrastructure surrounding SGB Net. The Payward integration adds another connection, this time linking selected institutional customers to Payward for continuous U.S. dollar settlement while also connecting SGB to Kraken Prime for digital-asset liquidity.
Kraken Prime becomes another liquidity source for SGB
The second major component of the agreement centers on Kraken Prime. The service supports institutional investors seeking digital-asset trading, liquidity, financing and other services through Payward’s infrastructure.
Under the new arrangement, Singapore Gulf Bank will use Kraken Prime as an additional venue when sourcing liquidity for its own customers. SGB plans to use Payward’s markets to price digital-asset trades over the coming months.
SGB CEO Shawn Chan said the connection between settlement and liquidity means clients can move funds when they need to. His statement describes the capability provided through the partnership rather than indicating that every Singapore Gulf Bank customer has immediate access.
The companies have not disclosed the expected trading volume associated with the arrangement. They also have not specified which cryptocurrencies will be supported or how many institutions are participating in the initial rollout.
Those undisclosed details leave the confirmed scope focused on selected institutional clients, U.S. dollar settlement and the additional Kraken Prime liquidity connection.
SGB separately connects bank money with digital assets
Singapore Gulf Bank has also been developing services that connect traditional bank accounts with digital assets independently of the Payward partnership.
Its regulated fiat-stablecoin interoperability service was introduced for institutions seeking to mint, convert and trade stablecoins through a regulated banking platform. The service supports assets including USDC and USDT across networks such as Ethereum, Solana and Arbitrum.
Singapore Gulf Bank has positioned SGB Net as the fiat settlement layer supporting those services.
The bank subsequently added direct stablecoin minting and redemption capabilities for selected corporate and high-net-worth customers. These functions expanded the ways eligible clients can move between money held through banking channels and digital assets.
These existing services provide context for SGB’s broader infrastructure, but the Oct. 5 Payward rollout has a narrower publicly confirmed starting point: continuous U.S. dollar settlement for selected institutional customers and an additional source of liquidity through Kraken Prime.
Payward continues adding regulated banking relationships
The Singapore Gulf Bank agreement forms part of Payward Banking, which handles cash movement across deposits, payments, cards, custody and lending within Payward’s broader product infrastructure.
Banking relationships have become one element of Payward’s institutional expansion during 2026. The SoFi partnership brought round-the-clock U.S. dollar settlement to qualified institutional clients in the United States, while the SGB arrangement extends that model to supported customers across parts of Asia and the Gulf.
Payward has simultaneously pursued regulated custody infrastructure. In May, the company filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposing the creation of Payward National Trust Company.
The proposed entity would operate as a federally regulated digital-asset custodian in the United States. Payward proposed offering institutional crypto custody without accepting traditional deposits or issuing conventional loans.
The OCC had not granted final approval when the application was last reviewed. An August update showed Payward remained among digital-asset businesses with pending federal licensing applications.
Singapore Gulf Bank remains regulated in Bahrain
While Payward’s U.S. trust charter application remains pending, Singapore Gulf Bank continues operating under its Central Bank of Bahrain license.
The bank’s corporate services combine multi-currency accounts, international payments, digital-asset services and remote onboarding for eligible customers. Its status as a conventional wholesale bank provides the regulated banking network used in the new Payward arrangement.
For the partnership announced on Oct. 5, however, the companies have defined a limited first phase rather than a universal rollout. U.S. dollars remain the only publicly confirmed settlement currency, and access initially applies to selected institutional clients in supported jurisdictions.
The companies have said they intend to expand the service to additional currencies and more institutional customers after this first phase. No dates have been announced for those additions.
Initial launch keeps expansion plans open
The Payward and Singapore Gulf Bank partnership brings continuous settlement and digital-asset liquidity together through two connected systems. Eligible SGB clients can use SGB Net to deposit U.S. dollars with Payward and make funds available for trading without waiting for conventional banking hours, including during weekends.
At the same time, Singapore Gulf Bank will use Kraken Prime as another source of liquidity when pricing digital-asset trades for customers. The bank plans to begin using Payward’s markets for that purpose over the coming months.
The arrangement builds on SGB Net’s reported growth and Payward’s earlier work with SoFi, while remaining limited in its initial scope.
The announcement does not quantify activity generated since the integration.
Neither company has disclosed how many institutions are participating, what trading volume they expect, or which cryptocurrencies will be supported through the new liquidity connection. Additional settlement currencies and a broader customer rollout are planned, but no timetable has been provided.
For now, the confirmed service is centered on selected institutional clients, supported jurisdictions and round-the-clock U.S. dollar settlement, with SGB Net providing the banking network and Kraken Prime adding another digital-asset liquidity source for Singapore Gulf Bank.
