Nasdaq invests $100M in Kraken parent company Payward to advance tokenized equities
Global financing company and stock exchange Nasdaq Inc. today announced it has invested $100 million in Payward Inc., the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, expanding its relationship to advance work on a new token framework for equities.
In March, the company announced plans to develop Nasdaq Equity Tokens in collaboration with Payward. It introduced an accompanying framework to connect them to Payward’s xStocks ecosystem, laying the groundwork for tokenizing and issuing equities across different market environments while preserving investors’ rights and protections.
Equity tokenization converts traditional company shares into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain network. This creates a digital representation in which shares are issued or mirrored as cryptographic tokens on a distributed ledger rather than paper certificates within a centralized exchange. The tokens are represented by smart contracts on a blockchain network, where programmable code automates corporate activities such as dividend distribution, compliance and voting.
Nasdaq said the company’s markets business division, Digital Liquidity Networks, will lead the collaboration and focus on building always-on market infrastructure for capital and assets.
