Nasdaq invests $100 million in Kraken parent at $21 billion valuation

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Nasdaq has invested $100 million in Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, as the exchange operator expands its tokenised asset offering.

The investment was made through Nasdaq’s venture arm. Under the agreement, Kraken will make tokenised versions of Nasdaq-listed stocks available on its platform. Payward will also deploy Nasdaq’s market surveillance technology across its crypto, equities, tokenised equities, futures and options businesses.

The deal extends a partnership between the two companies announced in March. Bloomberg reported that the investment values Payward at $21 billion, citing people familiar with the matter.

Nasdaq has been increasing its focus on tokenisation and round-the-clock trading. In August, it announced plans to acquire Level Markets, while it submitted a proposal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission last year to enable the trading of tokenised securities.