Nasdaq has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, at a $21 billion valuation. The investment deepens a partnership to develop tokenized stocks, targeting a second-quarter 2027 launch. Kraken will also adopt Nasdaq’s market surveillance technology across its trading venues. Deutsche Börse previously paid $200 million for a stake that valued Payward at $13.3 billion in April. The exchange is moving into stocks, derivatives, and other traditional financial products. Tokenized assets do not confer outright ownership of underlying shares, a gap highlighted by a dispute between Robinhood and AMC Entertainment.
Nasdaq (NDAQ) has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, through its venture arm. The investment values Payward at $21 billion, expanding a partnership first announced in March to develop tokenized equities.
Under the deal, Kraken’s xStocks product will power a permissionless blockchain layer for Nasdaq’s issuer-sponsored equity tokens. The partnership targets a second-quarter 2027 launch for the tokens.
Payward will also adopt Nasdaq’s market surveillance technology across its crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options venues. Deutsche Börse paid $200 million for a stake that valued Payward at $13.3 billion in April.
The same month, Kraken began offering more than 11,000 US stocks and ETFs through its FINRA-regulated brokerage. The exchange is moving into stocks, derivatives, and other traditional financial products beyond cryptocurrency.
“More than $2 trillion of stock trades run through the U.S. clearing system every day. Buys and sells net down by about 98 percent, and the clearing house holds $10 billion to $20 billion of collateral against what is left while it waits a day to settle. Cutting that wait from two days to one in 2024 released $3 billion. Onchain settlement removes the wait,” said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward.
Within Nasdaq, the work is led by its Digital Liquidity Networks unit. “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,” said Tal Cohen, President of Nasdaq.
Holders of tokenized assets do not have outright ownership of the underlying shares, according to the report. This gap is now playing out in a public dispute between Robinhood and AMC Entertainment over Robinhood’s tokenized AMC shares, which the studio calls a synthetic market.
