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Nasdaq Invests $100 Million in Kraken Parent Payward to Advance Tokenized Stock Trading
Nasdaq announced on Thursday that its venture arm has agreed to invest $100 million into Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. The investment deepens an existing partnership focused on creating regulated infrastructure for trading tokenized versions of traditional equities.
Strategic Goals and Infrastructure
The collaboration aims to build a platform that allows for the trading and settlement of tokenized assets outside of conventional market hours, according to a statement reported by Reuters. This initiative seeks to merge the 24/7 nature of digital asset markets with the regulatory compliance and investor safeguards of traditional finance.
"The next phase of the collaboration is planned to advance Nasdaq Equity Tokens onto rails that do not close, with shareholder rights intact," said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward. Nasdaq emphasized its intent to preserve core principles of market integrity, transparency, and liquidity within the new tokenized framework.
AdProduct Roadmap and Context
The investment builds upon a partnership first announced in March. Following that initial announcement, Nasdaq received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow certain stocks to be traded and settled in a tokenized form.
The companies are targeting a launch for their Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) in the second quarter of 2027, which will operate on Payward’s xStocks platform. The move positions Nasdaq to compete with crypto-native platforms expanding into traditional finance and to capture growing investor interest in blockchain-based assets.
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