Nasdaq to Invest $100M in Kraken Parent Payward

Nasdaq Ventures has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, expanding a partnership focused on tokenized equities and always-on financial-market infrastructure.

NEW YORK (MemeBlock), Nasdaq Ventures has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, as the companies expand their work on tokenized equities and infrastructure designed to connect traditional capital markets with blockchain networks. Nasdaq announced the agreement on September 10, 2026, saying the partnership will also include Nasdaq market-surveillance technology across Payward’s trading venues.

The companies expect to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) in the second quarter of 2027. Nasdaq said the initiative is intended to support tokenized equities while retaining an issuer-focused approach centered on governance, regulatory compliance and market integrity.

Nasdaq Payward Investment Expands March Partnership

The Nasdaq Payward investment builds on a relationship announced in March 2026, when Payward and Nasdaq said they would develop an equities transformation gateway connecting regulated capital markets with blockchain networks.

Payward’s xStocks infrastructure is part of that effort. In its March announcement, Kraken said xStocks would provide a permissionless infrastructure layer for Nasdaq’s issuer-sponsored equity tokens, with the goal of allowing tokenized equities to move between regulated and decentralized environments in eligible jurisdictions.

Nasdaq’s own March disclosure said its equity-token design was intended to bridge permissioned market infrastructure and permissionless blockchain networks while preserving issuer control and investor protections.

The latest agreement takes that earlier technical collaboration further. Nasdaq said the companies will work on the operational and commercial infrastructure needed for distribution, trading and post-trade activity involving Nasdaq Equity Tokens.

NETs are Targeted For Second-Quarter 2027

Nasdaq and Payward currently expect Nasdaq Equity Tokens to launch in the second quarter of 2027. That is a forward-looking target rather than a completed product launch.

Nasdaq said the collaboration is being led within the company by Digital Liquidity Networks, its markets business focused on infrastructure for moving capital, assets and liquidity across markets on an always-on basis.

The companies’ proposal comes as established exchanges and crypto platforms increasingly develop tokenized versions of traditional financial assets. Reuters reported that exchange operators are pursuing tokenized securities infrastructure as crypto-native platforms expand into stocks and derivatives.

The regulatory foundation for Nasdaq’s strategy also advanced this year. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Nasdaq’s proposed rule change on March 18, 2026, allowing securities to trade on the exchange in tokenized form.

That approval does not mean every tokenized stock can immediately trade under the Nasdaq framework. The specific products, securities, market infrastructure and applicable regulatory requirements remain important parts of the implementation process.

Market Surveillance Becomes Part of The Deal

The expanded relationship is not limited to tokenization.

Nasdaq said Payward will adopt its market-surveillance technology across its portfolio of trading venues, covering crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options. The stated objective is to strengthen monitoring and market-integrity capabilities as Payward expands across multiple asset classes.

That element is notable because tokenized markets introduce a different operational structure from conventional exchange trading. Products can operate on blockchain networks and potentially across venues and jurisdictions, creating additional requirements around surveillance, settlement, ownership records and investor protections.

Nasdaq President Tal Cohen said the relationship reflects the company’s view that Payward can contribute to infrastructure supporting the movement of capital and assets while maintaining trust and transparency.

Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the companies’ next phase is intended to move Nasdaq Equity Tokens onto continuously operating rails while preserving shareholder rights.

$21B Valuation Requires Separate Attribution

Bloomberg reported that the $100 million Nasdaq investment values Payward at approximately $21 billion, citing people familiar with the transaction. That valuation was not disclosed in Nasdaq’s official announcement and should therefore not be presented as a company-confirmed figure without attribution.

The figure also represents a substantial increase from an earlier independently disclosed transaction involving Payward.

In April, Deutsche Börse Group announced a $200 million investment in Payward through a secondary share transaction. Deutsche Börse said the transaction represented a 1.5% fully diluted stake. On a simple calculation, that transaction implied a valuation of approximately $13.3 billion ($200 million divided by 1.5%), although the transaction structure and the later Nasdaq investment are not directly comparable.

The reported $21 billion figure would therefore imply a considerably higher valuation only about five months after the Deutsche Börse transaction. Because the Nasdaq announcement does not disclose its investment structure, share price or resulting ownership percentage, the valuation should remain attributed to Bloomberg rather than treated as a verified term of the Nasdaq announcement.

What Investors Should Monitor Next

The immediate milestones are the execution of the investment agreement, further details on its financial terms, development of the Nasdaq Equity Token framework and progress toward the planned second-quarter 2027 launch.

The companies will also need to demonstrate how tokenized securities interact with existing custody, settlement, surveillance and investor-protection systems. Nasdaq’s March rule approval provides an important regulatory foundation, but product-level implementation remains subject to applicable rules and operational requirements.

The partnership also gives Nasdaq a direct relationship with a crypto-native platform while giving Payward access to infrastructure and market-surveillance capabilities developed by a major traditional exchange operator.

For the broader market, the more consequential question is whether tokenized equities can move beyond individual crypto platforms and become interoperable with regulated capital-market infrastructure. The Nasdaq-Payward agreement provides a concrete commercial and technological test of that model, with the first major deadline now set for 2027.