Nasdaq's venture arm is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, at a $21 billion valuation, the companies said on September 10, deepening a strategic partnership the two firms first announced in March. Under the deal, Payward will act as the settlement layer and provide KYC/AML compliance through Payward Services for Nasdaq Equity Tokens, or NETs, blockchain-based representations of Nasdaq-listed stocks that the companies expect to launch in the first half of 2027, according to a Nasdaq announcement yesterday.
The tokens are designed to carry the same shareholder voting rights as ordinary Nasdaq shares and to trade on infrastructure that operates around the clock rather than during standard exchange hours, addressing one of the most-cited limitations of traditional equity markets. Payward will also integrate Nasdaq's market surveillance tools across its crypto, equities, tokenized-securities, futures and options venues.
"This partnership advances our work on Nasdaq Equity Tokens and helps build a more connected financial system while preserving the trust, transparency and integrity that underpin capital formation," Nasdaq president Tal Cohen said. Payward co-chief executive Arjun Sethi said integrating blockchain settlement could remove processing delays baked into clearing systems that handle more than $2 trillion in daily US stock trading volume, and described the goal as "programmable financial instruments" at the asset layer.
The centerpiece of the technical build is a gateway powered by xStocks, Kraken's existing tokenized-equity product, meant to connect regulated institutional markets with permissionless blockchain networks so tokenized shares can move between both environments in eligible jurisdictions. xStocks has processed $25 billion in total transaction volume since launching less than a year ago, with more than $4 billion settled on-chain across roughly 85,000 unique holders.
The investment follows a $200 million stake Deutsche Börse took in Payward in April and arrives as Payward's fundraising, which had been targeting a $20 billion valuation since May, closed above that mark. Nasdaq is not alone in the race: the New York Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange are both building their own tokenized-trading platforms, part of a broader push that has already pushed total tokenized stock valuations past $2.9 billion.
