Key Insights:
- Kraken news: Nasdaq will invest $100 million in Payward, Kraken’s parent company, to expand infrastructure for tokenized equities.
- Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) are expected to launch on Payward’s xStocks platform in Q2 2027, enabling trading and settlement beyond conventional market hours.
- The deal comes as Nasdaq expands its crypto footprint, including plans for 23-hour stock trading and a proposal for options tied to Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP ETFs.
Kraken news: On Sept. 10, 2026, Nasdaq announced that its venture arm will invest $100 million in Payward. It is the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken. The press release stated that as a strategic partnership to develop infrastructure for trading tokenized stocks.
Nasdaq said it will work with Payward to advance its Nasdaq Equity Token (NET) framework and include a new market-surveillance agreement for the deal.
Kraken news: Deepening Nasdaq-Payward Partnership
Nasdaq Ventures – the exchange’s strategic investment arm – often backs innovations to modernize markets.
The $100 million stake reflects Nasdaq’s commitment to tokenization. According to Nasdaq’s official announcement, the funding will support joint work on NETs with Payward’s xStocks platform. The goal is to launch those tokenized equities by Q2 2027.
For Kraken news readers, the timetable suggests tokenized equity trading could come online by mid-2027, bridging traditional stocks and blockchain trading.
Payward’s co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the “next phase” of the collaboration will put NETs “onto rails that do not close, with shareholder rights intact.” The expanded partnership also calls for Payward to adopt Nasdaq’s market-surveillance technology across its trading venues.
For Kraken news readers, it is also noteworthy that Payward’s venues will use Nasdaq’s surveillance systems. It aims to provide oversight akin to that of regulated markets.
Nasdaq Advances Tokenized Stocks
Nasdaq noted that tokenized assets would be able to trade and settle outside conventional market hours under the new infrastructure.
This is part of Nasdaq’s broader strategy to enable “always-on” market infrastructure. The companies expect to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) on Payward’s xStocks network in Q2 2027.
In effect, Nasdaq’s plan could cut settlement times: as Payward’s co-CEO noted, moving equity trades to an on-chain model would eliminate the two-day delay and keep “shareholder rights intact”.
This partnership builds on an earlier March 2026 collaboration between the firms to develop tokenization infrastructure, and comes after Nasdaq’s SEC approval to trade certain stocks in tokenized form.
Nasdaq Expands Crypto Offerings
For Kraken news watchers, this deal comes amid Nasdaq’s broader crypto push. In August, Nasdaq announced plans to add a 23-hour trading session (9 p.m.–4 a.m. ET) by December, narrowing the gap with crypto’s 24/7 markets.
The exchange has also filed an SEC proposal to standardize options on crypto ETFs for Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and XRP.
These moves underscore Nasdaq’s strategy to integrate blockchain assets into traditional markets. Nasdaq’s $100 million investment in Payward reflects the same strategy: merging its regulated infrastructure with a leading crypto platform, according to the companies’ statements.
