Nasdaq Ventures has agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, deepening a strategic partnership focused on tokenized equities and always-on market infrastructure. The investment combines direct capital backing with expanded technical cooperation around trading, surveillance and post-trade systems for blockchain-based securities.
According to Nasdaq’s official September 10 announcement, the companies will continue developing Nasdaq Equity Tokens, or NETs, while Payward adopts Nasdaq’s market-surveillance technology across trading venues covering crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options. The partners expect NETs to launch in the second quarter of 2027 through infrastructure connected with Payward’s xStocks ecosystem.
Nasdaq and Payward Expand Tokenized Equity Infrastructure
The collaboration builds on a partnership announced in March, when Payward and Nasdaq began developing a gateway between regulated equity markets and permissionless blockchain environments. The model is intended to let tokenized securities move across different market structures while preserving issuer and investor protections associated with conventional equities.
Nasdaq’s SEC-approved framework also provides important regulatory groundwork. The Commission approved Nasdaq’s rule change on March 18, allowing securities listed on the exchange to trade in tokenized form under specified conditions. That approval gives Nasdaq a regulated basis for developing tokenized equity products rather than treating NETs as synthetic substitutes for listed shares.
Payward’s xStocks platform provides the blockchain distribution side of the partnership. As of July, xStocks reported more than $35 billion in total transaction volume, approximately $12.5 billion of it on-chain, with nearly 200,000 holders. Eight of the 15 largest tokenized stocks by market capitalization were issued through the xStocks framework, according to the platform.
NETs Target Always-On Equity Markets
Nasdaq and Payward are now focusing on global distribution, trading and post-trade infrastructure capable of operating beyond conventional market hours. The stated objective is to bring tokenized equities onto rails that can remain active continuously while retaining shareholder rights, rather than creating instruments that merely track stock prices.
Market surveillance is another central component. Payward will deploy Nasdaq technology across its portfolio of venues to monitor activity spanning several asset classes. Adding exchange-grade surveillance reflects an effort to pair blockchain settlement with established market-integrity controls, particularly as tokenized securities move closer to institutional trading environments.
The second-quarter 2027 target remains forward-looking and subject to execution, market conditions and regulatory requirements. The immediate significance is therefore the combination of Nasdaq’s $100 million investment and deeper infrastructure integration, which moves the relationship beyond an exploratory tokenization partnership toward a jointly developed market structure for tokenized equities.
