Nasdaq Ventures has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. The agreement, announced by Nasdaq on Thursday, values Payward at $21 billion.
The investment builds upon a partnership established in March, in which Nasdaq and Payward agreed to develop infrastructure connecting regulated equity markets with blockchain networks. Through this initiative, Kraken plans to offer digital representations of Nasdaq-traded stocks to its platform users.
Nasdaq has actively pursued market infrastructure updates, including a September 2025 proposal filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow securities to trade in tokenized formats. Additionally, Nasdaq reached an agreement in August to acquire LeveL Markets to support trading outside conventional market hours.
Expanding Tokenized-Equities Partnerships
Payward has also formed strategic alliances with other prominent exchange operators. In April, Deutsche Börse invested $200 million in Payward to pursue opportunities in tokenized investment products and blockchain-based securities.
Furthermore, Payward and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) announced a partnership in September to offer tokenized UK equities to investors. That collaboration aims to support tokenized exposure to major UK-listed companies, with trading initiatives scheduled to launch in 2027.
Data from RWA.xyz indicates that the broader tokenized-equities market has grown to more than $2.9 billion in assets, marking a 7.4% increase over the past month.
