TL;DR:
- Payward joined the US Tech Force, the federal technology talent initiative managed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and backed by the White House.
- The company will deploy engineers for two-year terms to work on artificial intelligence systems, cybersecurity, data modernization, and blockchain infrastructure.
- Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken and Payward, underscored the importance of applying crypto-grade security to the federal government’s core infrastructure.
Payward, the financial infrastructure platform operating behind Kraken and a family of products including NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks, announced its incorporation into the US Tech Force, a federal technology talent initiative managed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and backed by the White House.
The program was designed to recruit top-tier engineers on two-year terms, with the goal of addressing critical challenges in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data modernization, software engineering, and secure infrastructure based on blockchain technology. Participants will work directly on federal agency missions, ranging from the Department of the Treasury’s financial systems to national defense advancements.
Payward Enters the Heart of Federal-Level Modernization
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of the company, explained the scope of the agreement: “At Kraken and Payward we build for speed, security, and scale in the most demanding environments. Government technology modernization is not a luxury — it is critical for public trust, economic strength, and national leadership.” Sethi stated that the company will deploy seasoned engineers to the Tech Force to develop resilient and impenetrable systems, including blockchain applications that ensure transparency and efficiency at sovereign scale.
The company also committed to recruiting Tech Force talent for its own teams, seeking to create a bidirectional pipeline linking decentralized innovation with the core infrastructure of the United States. Payward joins a group of private sector partners in this cross-sector project, focused on practical, security-oriented engineering.
A Strategic Alliance Between the Private and Public Sectors
The initiative will be key to strengthening the relationship between the crypto industry and the U.S. federal government. By bringing security standards drawn from high-demand financial environments, Payward seeks to directly influence how the government manages and protects its technological systems, while consolidating its position as a central piece of the country’s digital infrastructure.
