Nasdaq invests $100m in Payward to advance tokenised equities

By Divya Shah

Nasdaq has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of the global cryptocurrency platform Kraken, as the two companies deepen their collaboration on tokenised equities and digital market infrastructure. 

The partnership aimed at modernising capital markets through tokenisation, always-on trading, and the integration of traditional financial systems with decentralised networks. 

Earlier this year, Nasdaq announced plans to develop the Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) framework in collaboration with Payward. The proposed design seeks to place public companies at the centre of ownership rights, governance, and transparency within tokenised equity markets. 

“The next era of market evolution will be defined by how efficiently and seamlessly capital and assets move across the financial system with durable, high-integrity liquidity,” said Tal Cohen, President, Nasdaq. 

“Expanding our relationship with Payward reflects our conviction that Kraken can play an important role in building the infrastructure that supports this evolution. Our 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,” added Cohen. 

The investment follows the launch of Nasdaq’s Digital Liquidity Networks (DLN) markets business in August, which is designed to bring together liquidity venues, tokenisation capabilities, and FinTech solutions serving the digital assets ecosystem. 

Under the expanded partnership, Payward will contribute Kraken’s crypto-native trading venue and its xStocks infrastructure layer, while Nasdaq will provide its expertise in regulated market infrastructure, market surveillance technologies, and exchange operations. 

The companies also announced that Payward will adopt Nasdaq’s market surveillance technology across its trading venues to help strengthen market integrity and oversight. 

Looking ahead, Nasdaq and Payward will continue developing the operational and commercial infrastructure required to support the NETs framework. 

Nasdaq expects to launch the Nasdaq Equity Tokens platform in the second quarter of 2027. According to the companies, the collaboration has already established a foundation for enabling tokenised equities to move across different market environments while preserving their intended structure for issuers and investors.