Nasdaq’s venture arm invested $100 million in Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, according to a Thursday announcement covered by Cointelegraph, CNBC, and Decrypt. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the deal valued Payward at $21 billion.
The capital extends a Nasdaq–Payward partnership first announced in March around Nasdaq Equity Tokens. Under the expanded work, Kraken is set to distribute tokenized versions of Nasdaq-listed stocks on its platform. The partners expect a tokenized equities launch in the second quarter of 2027, CNBC reported. Payward will also adopt Nasdaq market-surveillance technology across crypto, equities, tokenized equities, futures, and options venues.
Decrypt reported that Nasdaq’s token design is intended to carry the same voting rights as ordinary exchange-traded shares, unlike many tokenized equity products that only pass price exposure. CNBC separately noted that holders of tokenized assets typically do not have outright ownership of the underlying securities—a distinction that remains central to how these instruments are classified.
Context: Deutsche Börse paid $200 million for about 1.5% of Payward in April, a stake Bloomberg’s calculation put near a $13.3 billion implied valuation. Payward raised $800 million at a $20 billion valuation last November. Nasdaq president Tal Cohen said in a statement that expanding the Payward relationship supports infrastructure for moving capital and assets across the financial system while preserving trust and market integrity.
What would change the reading: a primary filing or company release that states a different valuation, ownership percentage, or product-rights package than the Bloomberg-sourced $21 billion figure and the partnership terms described above.
Cointelegraph; CNBC; Decrypt; Bloomberg via those outlets (Sep 10, 2026)