Nasdaq Ventures has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken. The investment deepens an existing partnership between the two companies focused on tokenized equities and market infrastructure.
Under the agreement, Payward will deploy Nasdaq's market-surveillance technology across its trading venues, which span crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options. This expands the relationship beyond previous plans for Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) and into monitoring tools for multiple asset classes.
The companies will continue developing operational and commercial systems for planned Nasdaq Equity Tokens. These issuer-sponsored tokens are designed to preserve issuer control and the legal and regulatory rights of underlying shares.
The investment announcement describes an agreement in principle rather than a completed transaction. The companies have not disclosed a closing date, Payward's valuation, Nasdaq's ownership percentage, or governance rights that may result from the investment.
Nasdaq and Payward announced their initial partnership in March, outlining plans for an equities transformation gateway connecting Nasdaq's proposed issuer-sponsored tokens with Payward's xStocks tokenized-equity ecosystem in eligible jurisdictions.
Payward will serve multiple roles in the expanded partnership: as a gateway and settlement participant for NETs, as a customer for Nasdaq's surveillance technology, and as the subject of the proposed investment. The companies now expect NETs to launch in the second quarter of 2027.
