Nasdaq Buys Into Kraken Parent Payward at 21 Billion USD Valuation With Tokenized Stocks Plan

Nasdaq has invested 100 million USD in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, at a valuation of 21 billion USD, according to people familiar with the matter — the strongest signal yet that traditional stock exchange operators intend to own a piece of the tokenized equities market rather than watch it from the sidelines.

The investment was made through Nasdaq’s venture arm and announced by Payward on Thursday. As part of the deal, Kraken will offer tokenized versions of Nasdaq-listed stocks on its own platform, deepening a partnership first struck in March around issuer-centric tokenized equities. Bloomberg first reported the 21 billion USD valuation. Cointelegraph approached Nasdaq for comment but did not receive a reply before publishing time.

Building the always-on market stack

The Payward stake is the latest in a series of moves by Nasdaq to assemble what it calls always-on market infrastructure. A month ago, the exchange operator shared plans to acquire Level Markets as part of its push into round-the-clock trading. A year earlier, Nasdaq filed a tokenization proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking a rule change that would let it trade tokenized stocks.

Kraken, for its part, has been signing venue partnerships across the map. Earlier this month it partnered with the London Stock Exchange to launch access to 24/5 trading of tokenized stocks tracking leading UK equity products, starting in 2027. In April, Deutsche Börse invested 200 million USD in Payward as part of the German operator’s plan to offer blockchain-based securities and tokenized investment products.

The pattern is consistent: global exchange groups are not waiting for their own tokenization rulebooks to be finalized before taking equity positions in the crypto venues that already have the rails.

The tokenized stock market keeps swelling

The market Nasdaq is buying into is growing quickly. Data compiled by RWA.xyz put the distributed value of tokenized stocks at more than 2.9 billion USD, up 7.4 percent over the past month alone. Tokenized equities — blockchain representations of shares that trade around the clock and in fractional sizes — have shifted from curiosity to allocation in under two years.

The 21 billion USD valuation also marks a milestone for Kraken itself. The exchange, which spent years in regulatory confrontation with US authorities before settling SEC litigation, is now being marked up by the same traditional finance establishment it once battled. Deutsche Börse’s April investment established the institutional bid; Nasdaq’s entry at a reported 21 billion USD valuation confirms the trend line.

Why an exchange would fund a rival venue

At first glance, a stock exchange investing in a crypto platform that plans to trade tokenized versions of its own listings looks like financing the competition. The strategic logic runs the other way: whoever controls the venue where tokenized Nasdaq-listed stocks trade still needs the underlying listings, index data, and market surveillance that Nasdaq provides.

By taking an equity stake and channeling tokenized Nasdaq stocks through Kraken, Nasdaq keeps itself in the value chain of a 24/7 market it cannot itself operate under current rules — US stock exchanges remain bound by regular trading hours and legacy settlement cycles, while tokenized equivalents trade continuously on crypto rails.

For Kraken, the partnership solves the liquidity credibility problem. Tokenized stocks are only as attractive as the collateral of institutional trust behind them, and a Nasdaq badge — plus Nasdaq capital — goes a long way toward convincing asset managers that a token trading on a crypto exchange is a serious instrument.

The wider race

The deal lands amid a broader scramble for tokenized equities. Robinhood’s tokenized stock plans have drawn public criticism from AMC’s chief executive, and Coinbase recently expanded tokenized stock offerings to six names on Base. Kalshi, Bybit and others are pushing into related always-on derivatives.

What distinguishes the Nasdaq-Kraken axis is completeness: one side holds the listings and the brand, the other holds the rails and the retail and institutional crypto user base, and now the two are financially aligned.

Whether that translates into market share depends on execution — Kraken must deliver tokenized Nasdaq stocks at scale, and the SEC must not object to the structure. But the 100 million USD check at a 21 billion USD mark is itself market data: one of the world’s largest exchange operators has put a price on the future of round-the-clock tokenized equities, and it is willing to buy in before that future is fully regulated.