Kraken’s parent, Payward, has secured a US$100 million investment from Nasdaq Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Nasdaq (NDAQ).

The deal deepens a partnership Payward already has with Nasdaq covering tokenised equities infrastructure and market surveillance.

Payward is working with Nasdaq’s Digital Liquidity Networks (DLN) unit on the collaboration.

DLN is the exchange’s markets business, and it focuses on building always-on infrastructure to move capital, assets and liquidity across global markets.

The two companies are also progressing plans for Nasdaq Equity Tokens (NETs). They are targeting a launch in the second quarter of 2027.

Nasdaq introduced the NET framework earlier this year. It also outlined a plan to connect NETs with Payward’s xStocks ecosystem.

The goal is to let tokenised equities move across market environments while protecting issuers and investors.

The next phase will focus on global distribution, trading and post-trade capabilities.

“Expanding our relationship with Payward reflects our conviction that Kraken can play an important role in building the infrastructure that supports this evolution,”

said Tal Cohen, President of Nasdaq.

“The next phase of the collaboration is planned to advance Nasdaq Equity Tokens onto rails that do not close, with shareholder rights intact,”

said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward.

Payward will also adopt Nasdaq’s surveillance technology across its trading venues.

The technology covers crypto, equities, tokenised equities, futures and options.

The agreement extends the companies’ work to include tools that support market integrity and investor confidence.

Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on images by dit26978 via Magnific, and Reap via LinkedIn