Nasdaq said on September 10 that Nasdaq Ventures invested US$100 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to support tokenized market infrastructure.

Under the agreement, Kraken will distribute tokenized Nasdaq-listed stocks on its platform.

The deal reportedly values Payward at US$21 billion. Nasdaq said the tokenized shares are intended to mirror ordinary equities, including voting rights.

Nasdaq announced its equity-token design in March and said it had started working with Kraken on infrastructure to bridge tokenized equities between regulated and onchain markets.

The NYSE said on January 19, 2026 that it was developing a platform for tokenized securities.

Kraken also appears to have at least one US securities-regulated affiliate. One affiliate filed Form CRS on March 17, 2025.

US expansion may still depend on securities rules. US Securities and Exchange Commission guidance says distributed ledger technology-based crypto-asset activities can trigger registration requirements.

Separate guidance addresses how broker-dealers may custody securities.

🔗 Source: CoinDesk

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