Nasdaq Invests $100M in Kraken Parent Payward at $21B Valuation

Nasdaq is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of Kraken, in a transaction valuing the private financial infrastructure company at $21 billion. The investment is being made through Nasdaq’s venture arm and deepens a partnership already centered on moving regulated equities onto blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.

The $21 billion valuation places Payward above the $20 billion equity value used in several transactions earlier this year and comes as Kraken continues preparations for a potential public listing. The exchange confidentially filed for an IPO after expanding beyond crypto spot trading into equities, derivatives, payments and tokenized assets.

Nasdaq and Kraken Expand Tokenized Equity Partnership

Nasdaq and Payward first unveiled their tokenization partnership in March. The companies are building an Equities Transformation Gateway connecting Nasdaq’s regulated securities infrastructure with Payward’s xStocks framework and supported permissionless blockchain networks.

Under the original Payward agreement, xStocks provides the permissionless infrastructure layer, while Payward handles KYC, AML onboarding and initial settlement for eligible Nasdaq Equity Token transactions. The structure is designed to allow tokenized equities to move between regulated markets and compatible onchain environments while retaining shareholder rights and existing securities protections.

The latest timetable places the launch of Nasdaq Equity Tokens in the second quarter of 2027. Nasdaq had previously targeted the first quarter of 2027, making the new schedule a shift from the timeline disclosed when the partnership was announced in March.

Payward Valuation Returns Above $20 Billion

Nasdaq’s investment follows another major exchange operator onto Payward’s shareholder register. Deutsche Börse acquired a $200 million stake in April through a secondary transaction representing 1.5% of Payward on a fully diluted basis.

That deal implied a substantially lower valuation than Nasdaq’s latest investment. Payward subsequently used a $20 billion equity valuation in its Bitnomial and Reap transactions, while the new Nasdaq deal raises the reference point to $21 billion.

Payward’s underlying business has also continued to expand. The company generated $508 million in adjusted revenue during the second quarter, up 17% year over year, with 6.6 million funded accounts and $40 billion of assets on its platforms.