Nasdaq Invests $100M in Payward to Advance Tokenized Equities

Nasdaq has invested $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. This investment aims to advance work on a new token framework for equities.

The collaboration between Nasdaq and Payward is part of their plan to develop Nasdaq Equity Tokens in conjunction with Payward's xStocks ecosystem. The goal is to create a digital representation of traditional company shares, recorded on a blockchain network, where programmable code automates corporate activities such as dividend distribution and voting.

Nasdaq said its markets business division, Digital Liquidity Networks, will lead the collaboration and focus on building always-on market infrastructure for capital and assets. 'The next era of market evolution will be defined by how efficiently and seamlessly capital and assets move across the financial system with durable liquidity,' said Nasdaq President Tal Cohen.