Kraken and Nasdaq Unveil Tokenized Equity Gateway to Unlock Cross-Market Trading
Kraken and Nasdaq have partnered to build an equities transformation gateway, which will connect regulated tokenized equity markets with permissionless blockchain networks. This new infrastructure layer is powered by Kraken's xStocks product, which has already processed over $25 billion in total transaction volume.
The partnership aims to let eligible users move tokenized equities between a regulated market environment and open on-chain ecosystems. Payward will handle KYC and AML onboarding for participants accessing the bridge through Kraken, and will serve as the primary settlement layer for transactions tied to Nasdaq's equity token design in certain jurisdictions.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, said that the effort targets a structural limitation in how equities function today. He argued that tokenized equities could instead operate as collateral within unified trading systems supporting spot markets, cross-margin trading, derivatives, perpetual futures, and financing environments.