Nasdaq invests $100 million in Kraken parent, eyeing 2027 launch of 'tokenized' stock trading — SkimNews
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- Nasdaq's venture capital arm is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, with the companies targeting a Q2 2027 launch of tokenized equities trading.
- Payward is valued at $21 billion in the round, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the deal Thursday.
- The partnership expands a previously announced effort to test Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) and will now build infrastructure to distribute and trade digital representations of publicly traded securities on a blockchain network.
- Payward will adopt Nasdaq's market-surveillance technology across its crypto and tokenized-equities trading venues as Kraken expands beyond crypto into stocks, derivatives, and other traditional financial products.
- Nasdaq president Tal Cohen said the partnership reflects a conviction that Payward can help build the infrastructure for capital to move 'seamlessly across the financial system with durable liquidity.'
- The deal lands amid a public spat between Robinhood and AMC over tokenized stock offerings — AMC argues such products create a synthetic market without real shareholder rights, while Robinhood defends its right to offer financial products referencing public stocks.
Why it matters: Nasdaq is positioning surveillance technology and regulatory-grade infrastructure as the gatekeepers of tokenized securities, handing Payward legitimacy and tooling to compete beyond crypto at a $21 billion valuation. The ownership question, however, is unresolved: the source explicitly notes tokenized asset holders do not get outright ownership of the underlying assets — the exact grievance AMC is leveling at Robinhood in a parallel dispute.
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