Nasdaq's venture arm is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, according to Bloomberg. The deal values Payward at $21 billion and extends a partnership that began in March.
Under the arrangement, Kraken will distribute tokenized Nasdaq stocks on its platform. These tokenized equities will carry the same voting rights as ordinary shares traded on Nasdaq. Unlike most tokenized equity products that offer only price exposure, Nasdaq's design gives holders full shareholder rights and is part of a broader gateway to move tokenized equities between regulated and on-chain venues.
Kraken already offers tokenized equities through Payward Services, its business-to-business arm.
Trend Among Established Operators
Nasdaq is the latest major exchange operator to take a stake in a crypto exchange this year. Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, invested in OKX in March at a $25 billion valuation, securing a board seat and access to OKX's 120 million accounts for NYSE tokenized equities markets. Deutsche Börse invested $200 million for a 1.5% stake in Payward in April.
Valuation and Timeline
Payward's valuation has fluctuated through the year. The company raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation in November, maintaining that figure in April when acquiring derivatives exchange Bitnomial. Deutsche Börse's investment implied a valuation of approximately $13.3 billion by Bloomberg's calculation.
Nasdaq plans to launch its own token in the second quarter of next year, according to Bloomberg sources.
Payward filed a confidential S-1 registration statement in November but shelved its initial public offering plans in March, the same month Kraken became the first crypto firm granted access to the Federal Reserve's core payments system.
