Nasdaq's venture arm is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, valuing the firm at $21 billion. The deal expands a March 2026 partnership to build 24/7 tokenized equity infrastructure, allowing Kraken to distribute Nasdaq-listed stocks as tokens with full voting rights. This investment comes as traditional exchange operators like ICE and Deutsche Börse aggressively buy into crypto platforms, even as Payward delays its own IPO target to mid-2027.
Nasdaq investment in Payward
- ▪Nasdaq Inc. is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, through its venture investment arm
- ▪The $100 million investment by Nasdaq Inc. in Payward expands on a strategic partnership that the two companies originally established in March 2026
Tokenized equity infrastructure partnership
- ▪Payward's xStocks service, which issues blockchain versions of listed shares, had processed more than $25 billion in trades by March 2026
- ▪Kraken will distribute Nasdaq's tokenized stocks on its platform, allowing customers to hold digital versions of Nasdaq-listed equities that carry the same voting rights as ordinary shares
- ▪Nasdaq and Payward expect to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens in the second quarter of 2027 using Payward's xStocks platform
Traditional exchange operators entering crypto
- ▪Deutsche Börse paid $200 million for a 1.5% stake in Payward in April 2026, implying a valuation of about $13.3 billion for the Kraken parent company
- ▪Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, invested in OKX in March 2026 at a $25 billion valuation, taking a board seat and opening NYSE tokenized equities markets to OKX's 120 million accounts
Payward IPO timeline
- ▪Payward filed a confidential S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2025, but has delayed its initial public offering twice
- ▪Payward now targets the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest for its planned initial public offering, having shelved its listing plans in March 2026
Payward valuation at $21 billion
- ▪The $100 million investment from Nasdaq Inc. values Payward at $21 billion, representing a modest step up from the $20 billion valuation set in November 2025
- ▪Payward's $21 billion valuation follows a period where its valuation was unsettled, having raised $800 million at $20 billion in November 2025 and using that same figure in April 2026 to buy derivatives exchange Bitnomial
Debatable claims
- ▪Nasdaq's tokenized equities should carry the same voting rights as traditional shares
- ▪Nasdaq should transition to 24/7 trading on blockchain rails
- ▪Nasdaq should integrate its trading infrastructure with cryptocurrency platforms
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