Nasdaq Pours $100M into Kraken Parent Company for Tokenized Stocks

Nasdaq has invested $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. This investment is part of Nasdaq's strategy to expand its infrastructure for tokenized equities.

The partnership aims to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) on Payward's xStocks platform by Q2 2027. This will enable trading and settlement of these tokens outside conventional market hours, which could reduce settlement times from two days to almost immediate.

Nasdaq has been working towards integrating blockchain assets into traditional markets. The exchange has plans to add a 23-hour trading session and has filed an SEC proposal to standardize options on crypto ETFs for Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP.