Nasdaq invests $100M in Kraken parent company Payward to advance tokenized equities

Nasdaq has committed $100 million to Payward Inc., the parent organization behind cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, to bolster their joint efforts in creating tokenized equities. The collaboration aims to develop Nasdaq Equity Tokens, leveraging Payward’s xStocks ecosystem to tokenize and issue equities across various market environments while safeguarding investor rights and protections.

This move follows Nasdaq's initial plans to introduce tokenized equities in March, incorporating a framework that seamlessly connects to Payward’s xStocks ecosystem. Tokenization transforms conventional company shares into digital tokens, recorded on a blockchain network, and represented via smart contracts that automate corporate functions like dividend distribution, compliance, and voting.

Nasdaq's Digital Liquidity Networks division will spearhead the partnership, focusing on constructing a perpetual market infrastructure for capital and assets. By accelerating capital and asset transactions from a two-day to a one-day settlement period, Payward successfully liberated $3 billion. Integrating Nasdaq's market-leading audit technology into Payward’s trading venues will enhance market integrity and investor confidence in the evolving tokenized market infrastructure.