Nasdaq Invests Heavily in Kraken's Parent, Payward

Nasdaq is investing $100 million in Payward, Kraken's parent company, valuing it at approximately $21 billion. This investment deepens an alliance between Nasdaq and Payward to bring tokenized stocks closer to mainstream capital markets.

The partnership aims to connect regulated equities with blockchain infrastructure through the development of Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs). Payward will connect the system with its existing xStocks infrastructure, while also adopting Nasdaq's market-surveillance technology across crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures, and options.

Kraken has been aggressively expanding into equities, derivatives, and tokenized assets. Its European stock rollout now gives eligible customers access to thousands of conventional U.S. shares alongside more than 700 xStocks.