Nasdaq and Kraken Parent Team Up
Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, partnered with Nasdaq to develop an “xStocks-powered gateway” that connects permissioned and permissionless tokenized equities markets. The project aims to create a regulatory-compliant framework for tokenizing traditional equity instruments, with the infrastructure expected to go live in the first half of 2027.
The collaboration builds upon Nasdaq's proposal to the SEC in September 2025 to allow tokenized securities to trade on its markets and settle via the DTCC. Nasdaq's equity token design aims to integrate regulated equity markets with blockchain networks, creating a transparent market structure. Payward's xStocks, which provide tokenized exposure to publicly traded equities across blockchain ecosystems, have already seen significant adoption, surpassing $25 billion in total transaction volume since launch. Of that, over $4 billion has been settled on-chain, with over 85,000 unique holders across supported networks. Nasdaq's equity token design intends to give public companies more control over their shares in tokenized form, modernizing issuer-investor connections related to proxy voting and governance. The new tokens will be direct issuer tokens and share the CUSIP with the conventional stock. Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, stated that tokenization improves market infrastructure by enabling equities to exist as interoperable instruments across regulated financial systems and open blockchain networks. He also noted that it expands access to public markets for international customers and enables greater collateral efficiency for U.S. customers. In a related development, Kraken Financial recently became the first crypto-native firm to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve's core payment system after receiving a master account from the Fed. This allows Kraken to settle dollar payments on Fedwire without intermediary banks. In November 2023, the SEC filed a civil enforcement action against Kraken, alleging it operated as an unregistered securities exchange. However, the SEC dropped the lawsuit in 2025 to reform its regulatory approach to the crypto industry.
