Nasdaq Ventures Invests $100 Million in Payward to Accelerate Tokenized Stock Initiative

Nasdaq Ventures announced a $100 million investment in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, to expand a collaboration aimed at bringing conventional equities onto public blockchains. The funding supports the development of Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs), a tokenized‑stock product that seeks to retain full shareholder rights while enabling continuous, programmable trading.

Key components of the partnership

• Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs): Digital representations of publicly traded shares that preserve regulatory protections and corporate actions.
• xStocks infrastructure: Payward’s platform will connect regulated securities markets with blockchain networks, allowing eligible investors to move tokenized equities across environments.
• Market‑surveillance technology: Payward will adopt Nasdaq’s surveillance tools for crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options.

Timeline and rollout

Nasdaq targets the second quarter of 2027 for the launch of NETs. The partnership builds on an earlier March announcement of an Equities Transformation Gateway powered by xStocks.

Scale of Payward’s existing operations

• More than $25 billion in total transaction volume processed by xStocks at the time of the March announcement.
• Over $4 billion settled on‑chain, with more than 85,000 unique holders.
• Second‑quarter 2026 adjusted revenue of $508 million, up 17 % year‑over‑year.
• Platform volume of $310 billion and $40 billion in assets under management.

Broader industry context

Payward has attracted additional capital from traditional market participants, including a $200 million investment from Citadel Securities (Nov 2025) and a $200 million stake from Deutsche Börse (Apr 2026). The company also filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO in November 2025.

Regulatory considerations

The rollout will depend on how securities regulators treat token transfers, voting rights, and corporate actions on blockchain. Nasdaq and Payward must ensure compliance with existing securities rules while enabling continuous market access.