Nasdaq Invests Big in Kraken Parent Company for Tokenized Stock Plans

Nasdaq is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, at a valuation of $21 billion. This investment deepens a strategic partnership between Nasdaq and Payward, which was first announced in March.

Payward will act as the settlement layer and provide KYC/AML compliance for Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs), blockchain-based representations of Nasdaq-listed stocks. 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.

Payward will also integrate Nasdaq's market surveillance tools across its crypto, equities, tokenized-securities, futures, and options venues. This integration aims to remove processing delays baked into clearing systems that handle more than $2 trillion in daily US stock trading volume.