Nasdaq’s venture capital arm will invest $100 million in Payward, parent of crypto exchange Kraken, to co-develop tokenized equities and related market infrastructure, targeting a second-quarter 2027 launch for tokenized stock trading. The deal builds on an earlier partnership testing Nasdaq Equity Tokens, focused on creating blockchain-based digital representations of publicly traded securities and other assets, while clarifying that holders of such tokens do not own the underlying assets outright. Payward will deploy Nasdaq’s market-surveillance technology across its trading venues, as Wall Street institutions increasingly explore tokenized securities, potentially reshaping equity market plumbing and prompting further regulatory, technological, and competitive developments before the planned rollout.
This update represents a notable development in the Board sector. Organizations and founders tracking this space should evaluate potential strategic and technical implications on their operations.