Sources: Nasdaq is investing $100M in Kraken parent Payward, valuing the cryptocurrency exchange at $21B; Kraken will distribute Nasdaq's tokenized stocks (Katherine Doherty/Bloomberg)

New York, 28th August - Nasdaq has announced an expanded partnership with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, which includes a $100 million investment through Nasdaq Ventures. The agreement is aimed at developing tokenized market infrastructure and enhancing global capital market capabilities. The collaboration will focus on the Nasdaq Equity Token framework and will see the launch of Nasdaq Equity Tokens in the second quarter of 2027.

Tal Cohen, President of Nasdaq, stated that the next era of market evolution will be characterized by efficient and seamless movement of capital and assets with durable liquidity. The companies plan to advance global distribution, trading, and post-trade capabilities for tokenized equities through this partnership. Payward's Co-CEO, Arjun Sethi, revealed that more than $2 trillion of stock trades occur daily in the U.S. clearing system, and onchain settlement has already cut the settlement time from two days to one in 2024, releasing $3 billion.

Payward will integrate Nasdaq’s surveillance technology across its various trading platforms, including crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures, and options, to ensure market integrity. Wells Fargo acted as Nasdaq's exclusive capital markets advisor on the transaction.