Nasdaq, the world's second-largest stock exchange, is advancing tokenized equity development in collaboration with US crypto exchange Kraken. The partnership aims to support equity tokenization while preserving issuer control.
Nasdaq has teamed up with Payward, Kraken's parent company, and its subsidiary Backed to create an equities transformation gateway. "Tokenization has the potential to unlock the benefits of an always-on financial ecosystem," stated Nasdaq president Tal Cohen.
The initiative is designed to enable tokenized equities to move seamlessly between regulated markets and global on-chain markets, ensuring issuer rights, regulatory compliance, and price integrity. "By connecting Nasdaq’s market infrastructure with the xStocks ecosystem, the gateway is designed to create interoperability between financial systems and decentralized networks," the announcement detailed.
Nasdaq plans to involve additional issuers, transfer agents, and market participants as the framework evolves. The program is expected to be operational in the first half of 2027.
Nasdaq president Cohen emphasized, "This issuer-sponsored approach for tokenized equity securities is designed to empower public companies and enhance global accessibility to US equity markets."