Nasdaq Ties the Knot Between Regulated Stocks and Blockchain

Nasdaq is investing $100 million in Payward at a valuation of $21 billion. This move deepens a partnership announced in March to connect Nasdaq's planned issuer-sponsored equity tokens with Payward's xStocks infrastructure.

The strategic question here is larger than Kraken's valuation: Nasdaq wants to ensure that tokenized stocks preserve the legal and governance characteristics of securities even when they begin moving through blockchain markets.

Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is becoming one of the companies traditional exchanges can use to connect regulated securities with crypto-native distribution. This means xStocks will be used as a gateway between regulated and on-chain equity markets.