Written by Zoltan Vardaistaff writerReviewed by Robert Lakinstaff editor

Written by Zoltan Vardaistaff writer

Reviewed by Robert Lakinstaff editor

Nasdaq invests $100M in Kraken parent at $21B valuation: Report

Latest NewsPublishedSep 10, 2026

Nasdaq invested $100 million in Payward as part of its push toward tokenized stock products with round-the-clock trading.

Nasdaq has invested $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, as part of the New York electronic bourse’s expansion into tokenized assets.

Nasdaq’s venture arm made a $100 million investment in Payward, the exchange operator revealed in a Thursday announcement. As part of the deal, Kraken will offer tokenized versions of Nasdaq-listed stocks on its own platform. The investment builds on Nasdaq’s partnership with Payward revealed in March.

Payward will also adopt Nasdaq’s surveillance technology across its crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures and options venues, as reported by the announcement.

The investment valued Kraken’s parent company at $21 billion, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Thursday. Cointelegraph approached Nasdaq for comment on the matter but did not receive a reply before publishing time.

The announcement comes a month after Nasdaq shared plans to acquire Level Markets as part of its push into “always-on” markets. Nasdaq filed a tokenization proposal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission a year ago. 

Earlier this month, Kraken partnered with the London Stock Exchange to launch access to 24/5 trading of tokenized stocks that are tracking the value of leading UK equity products starting in 2027.

In April, Deutsche Börse invested $200 million in Payward, as part of the German exchange operator’s plans to offer access to a wider array of blockchain-based securities and tokenized investment products.

Source: RWA.xyz

as reported by data compiled by RWA.xyz, the current distributed value of tokenized stocks is more than $2.9 billion, up 7.4% over the past month.

Related: AMC chief criticizes Robinhood’s tokenized stock plan

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

• Kraken
• Nasdaq
• Cryptocurrency Exchange
• RWA Tokenization
• Tokenization
• Stocks
• Wall Street
• Industry

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