Nasdaq Partners with Kraken’s Payward to Develop Tokenized Equity Market Infrastructure
Kraken launches Fractal Bitcoin spot trading while Nasdaq and Payward advance tokenized stock infrastructure, expanding 24/7 trading and instant settlement capabilities for digital and equity assets.
The statement is directly confirmed by a primary news report from CoinDesk (March 9, 2026) which details the partnership, the 2027 launch timeline, and the specific roles of Nasdaq and Kraken. This is further supported by regulatory filings from Nasdaq in early 2026 regarding tokenized security trading rules.
Kraken launched Fractal Bitcoin (FB) spot trading on March 10 at 23:00 UTC+8, enhancing its cryptocurrency offerings. Concurrently, Nasdaq continues its partnership with Payward to develop the 'Equity Transformation Gateway,' a system enabling 24/7 trading and immediate settlement of tokenized stocks, leveraging Kraken’s xStocks platform.
- Tokenized Stocks: Traditional company stocks that are converted into digital tokens, enabling them to be traded on a blockchain network.
- Equity Transformation Gateway: A new system being developed by Nasdaq and Payward to facilitate the trading and settlement of tokenized stocks.
- Fractal Bitcoin (FB): A digital asset available for spot trading on Kraken, representing a specific tokenized form of Bitcoin for trading purposes.