Nasdaq Invests $100 Million in Kraken Parent Payward

Nasdaq’s venture arm has committed $100 million to Payward, the company behind Kraken and the xStocks tokenized-equities platform. Bloomberg reported the investment values Payward at $21 billion; Nasdaq’s announcement confirmed the financing and an expanded collaboration but did not disclose the stake size, valuation, or whether the purchase involves new or existing shares.

The deal deepens a relationship that began with a tokenized-equities partnership struck in March and adds a market-surveillance agreement that will see Payward adopt Nasdaq’s surveillance systems across its crypto, equities, tokenized-equities, futures and options venues. Nasdaq’s move follows similar commercial ties Payward has formed with other exchange groups: Deutsche Börse invested in April and Payward reached an agreement with the London Stock Exchange nine days before Nasdaq’s announcement.

Payward’s recent financials show adjusted revenue of $508 million for the second quarter with adjusted EBITDA of $23 million, while platform transaction volume declined 18% to $310 billion and funded accounts increased 42% to 6.6 million. The company previously raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation in November 2025 and later accepted a $200 million investment from Deutsche Börse that priced the firm at roughly $13.3 billion on a fully diluted basis.

The partnership also ties into Nasdaq’s token framework for Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs), issuer-sponsored tokens that Nasdaq says carry full legal equivalence with ordinary shares within a limited pilot approved by the SEC. Under prior arrangements, Payward runs KYC/AML and settles NET trades via xStocks in eligible jurisdictions outside the U.S. and the U.K., using licensed entities in Bermuda and Cyprus. xStocks reported more than $35 billion in cumulative transaction volume in its first year, including $12.5 billion settled onchain, and ranked third by distributed tokenized-stock value at $631 million as of Sept. 9, according to RWA.xyz.

Neither Nasdaq nor Payward disclosed the financial terms of the surveillance contract or whether it was priced separately from the $100 million investment. Wells Fargo served as Nasdaq’s exclusive capital markets advisor on the transaction. Nasdaq shares traded around $93.68 on Thursday morning, representing a market capitalization near $52 billion.