In a significant step toward merging traditional finance with blockchain technology, Nasdaq has announced a partnership with Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. The collaboration focuses on developing infrastructure for tokenized equities, enabling seamless movement between regulated capital markets and decentralized blockchain ecosystems.
Announced on March 9, 2026, the initiative builds on Nasdaq’s earlier efforts to introduce tokenized trading and settlement. In September 2025, Nasdaq filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow equity securities to trade on its markets and settle in tokenized form, potentially through systems like the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC).
The new partnership centers on an issuer-centric equity token design. This approach prioritizes control for publicly traded companies, ensuring that tokenized versions of their shares preserve essential shareholder rights. These include proxy voting, dividend distributions, corporate actions, and governance participation—features that mirror traditional stock ownership while leveraging blockchain’s benefits.
Payward/Kraken will play a key role by building an equities transformation gateway powered by its existing xStocks framework. xStocks, which Kraken has developed and expanded aggressively since mid-2025, provides tokenized representations of U.S. stocks and ETFs. Each token is backed 1:1 by the underlying asset, issued on-chain (initially on networks like Solana, with expansions to Ethereum, TON, and others), and enables features such as 24/7 trading for eligible users.
xStocks has seen rapid adoption, surpassing $25 billion in cumulative transaction volume in under eight months, with over 85,000 unique holders and strong dominance in the tokenized equities space. The platform supports major assets like Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY), Nasdaq-100 (QQQ), and more, primarily targeting non-U.S. clients in over 110 countries.
Through this gateway, tokenized equities issued under Nasdaq’s framework will be able to transfer fluidly between permissioned (regulated, institutional) environments and permissionless (open, DeFi-integrated) networks in eligible jurisdictions. Kraken will serve as a primary distribution and settlement partner, making these tokenized stocks available to international customers while maintaining compliance through KYC/AML processes.
The program remains voluntary for issuers and is not restricted to Nasdaq-listed companies. Full operational rollout of Nasdaq’s equity token design and related distributed ledger technology (DLT) services is targeted for the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals.
This collaboration represents a milestone in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). By combining Nasdaq’s established market infrastructure with Kraken’s crypto-native expertise, the partnership aims to create a more efficient, liquid, and globally accessible equity market. Tokenized stocks could enable always-on trading, improved collateral efficiency, and greater interoperability across financial systems—potentially transforming how retail and institutional investors engage with equities.
As the boundaries between TradFi and crypto continue to blur, this move underscores growing institutional interest in blockchain for traditional securities. Stakeholders will watch closely for regulatory progress and issuer participation in the coming months.
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