Nasdaq Ventures has committed $100 million to Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, as the two firms deepen their collaboration on tokenized equities infrastructure and market surveillance capabilities. The investment underscores Nasdaq’s strategic push into blockchain-based market infrastructure through its Digital Liquidity Networks division, which aims to create always-on trading systems that operate beyond traditional market hours.
- Investment Amount: $100 million from Nasdaq Ventures
- Expected Launch: Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs) in Q2 2027
- Daily U.S. Stock Volume: $2 trillion traded through the clearing system
- Collateral Released: $3 billion freed by T+1 settlement reduction in 2024
The partnership will advance the operational and commercial infrastructure for Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs), which integrate with Payward’s xStocks ecosystem. The framework is designed to enable tokenized equities to move across different market environments while preserving issuer and investor protections. Nasdaq Ventures’ involvement signals the exchange operator’s confidence that Kraken will serve as a critical infrastructure provider for distributed capital markets.
Beyond tokenized equities, Payward will adopt Nasdaq’s market surveillance technology across its trading venues, spanning cryptocurrency, equities, tokenized equities, futures, and options. This expansion addresses regulatory and operational concerns around market integrity and investor protection, critical requirements for mainstream adoption of blockchain-based securities trading.
The collaboration highlights a key efficiency argument for on-chain settlement: eliminating the T+2 settlement cycle removes the need for clearing houses to hold $10 billion to $20 billion in collateral daily. Arjun Sethi, Payward’s co-CEO, noted that moving Nasdaq Equity Tokens onto non-stop settlement rails while maintaining shareholder rights represents the next phase of capital market evolution. Payward operates Kraken, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally.
