"We don't comment on specific personnel or operational decisions. As a high performance culture, we continually evaluate and evolve our organization to ensure we have the right structure and talent in place to optimize growth and deliver for our clients." — CoinDesk first reported (May 14) that Kraken parent Payward cut about 150 jobs (~5% of ~3,000 staff) as pre-IPO streamlining; Bloomberg (May 15, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-15/kraken-cuts-150-workers-after-deploying-ai-ipo-may-slip-to-2027) reported the cuts came after deploying AI that improved efficiency and that the IPO may slip to 2027. The AI linkage is source-based press reporting; the only on-record company statement (spokesperson, quoted above) does not mention AI. Geography not specified — Payward is US (Wyoming)-based with a globally distributed workforce;