Nasdaq Inc. is putting $100 million into Payward, the parent organization of digital asset exchange Kraken, based on recent accounts.
This arrangement—which has not yet been formally disclosed by either organization—will assist in developing a framework for tokenized equities, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, referencing individuals with knowledge of the situation. The agreement sets the valuation of the cryptocurrency firm at $21 billion, as stated in the report.
This development unfolds while Wall Street shows growing interest in bitcoin and blockchain-based architecture. Kraken has previously established partnerships with traditional financial institutions this year and last, and back in March, S&P Dow Jones Indices partnered to introduce a fresh derivative product on the decentralized trading platform Hyperliquid.
The Bloomberg coverage noted that Kraken will offer Nasdaq’s tokenized equities through its interface, providing users the opportunity to hold tokenized versions of Nasdaq-quoted shares.
Traditional finance institutions have been focusing on digital asset platforms and their systems largely because of their ambition to tokenize conventional instruments such as equities.
Back in January, the New York Stock Exchange announced plans to develop a marketplace enabling participants to purchase and sell tokenized representations of United States-based shares and exchange-traded funds, completing transactions on a distributed ledger around the clock.
Just last week, Payward, the umbrella firm for digital asset venue Kraken, alongside financial technology enterprise SoFi Technologies, announced an alliance to direct crypto transaction requests from SoFi users through Kraken’s professional trading network while also featuring SoFi’s digital currency on the platform.
As part of this pact, SoFi will channel its virtual currency transaction volume to Kraken Prime, the institutional brokerage division of Kraken that debuted in 2025.
Kraken, much like competing virtual asset platforms, is expanding into conventional finance realms, permitting participants to exchange equities, fixed-income products, and additional instruments. The organization has marketed its application as a comprehensive financial hub.
Originally published at https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/nasdaq-invests-in-kraken.
