Nasdaq invests $100m in Kraken parent Payward

Nasdaq Ventures has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, in a move that expands an existing strategic relationship. Multiple reports state that the transaction values Payward at about $21 billion, placing the company among the more highly valued private firms in the digital asset sector.

The capital raise is structured as a strategic investment rather than a passive financial holding, aligning Nasdaq and Payward around a shared roadmap for tokenized-equity infrastructure. The deal underscores Nasdaq’s ongoing interest in applying its market technology to digital assets and related products.

A central element of the expanded partnership is the development and launch of Nasdaq Equity Tokens, or NETs. Nasdaq and Payward have said they expect NETs to debut in the second quarter of 2027, providing tokenized representations of stocks listed on Nasdaq’s exchange.

These tokenized stocks are described as carrying shareholder voting rights equivalent to those attached to the underlying Nasdaq-listed shares. This structure is intended to mirror key features of traditional equity ownership while presenting the instruments in tokenized form.

Under the arrangement, Kraken will serve as a distribution channel for Nasdaq’s tokenized stocks. Through Kraken’s platforms, investors would be able to access NETs that are linked to Nasdaq-listed companies, subject to the planned 2027 launch timeline.

Positioning Kraken in this way aligns its existing crypto trading infrastructure with tokenized versions of conventional securities. The arrangement is designed to connect digital-asset trading venues with equity markets using token-based instruments.

As part of the deal, Payward will integrate Nasdaq’s market-surveillance technology across its trading venues. This includes coverage for crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options traded on Payward-operated platforms.

The adoption of Nasdaq’s surveillance tools is aimed at monitoring trading activity across these markets and products. It extends Nasdaq’s long-standing technology footprint in market oversight into the digital-asset and tokenization domains.

Wells Fargo (WFC) served as Nasdaq’s exclusive capital markets advisor on the transaction. The advisory role covered the structuring and execution of the $100 million strategic investment in Payward.

Taken together, the investment, planned NETs launch, surveillance-technology integration and Kraken’s distribution role outline a multi-year plan to build tokenized equity products linked to Nasdaq-listed stocks. The partnership focuses on combining traditional market infrastructure with tokenized instruments for future trading and settlement.