Nasdaq Ventures is investing $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, at a $21 billion valuation, deepening a partnership intended to connect regulated equity markets with blockchain networks. Payward will provide settlement and KYC/AML compliance for Nasdaq Equity Tokens, or NETs, which Nasdaq expects to launch in the first half of 2027. The companies are developing an Equities Transformation Gateway linking Nasdaq's systems to Kraken's xStocks infrastructure, with issuer control, shareholder voting rights and corporate-action protections intended to remain attached to tokenized shares. Wider adoption will depend on regulatory approval, issuer participation, institutional demand and sufficient trading liquidity. Although xStocks serves more than 110 markets, it is unavailable in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.