Nasdaq’s (NDAQ) venture capital company announced on Thursday that it has invested $100 million in Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. People familiar with the matter revealed that following the completion of the investment, Payward’s valuation reached $21 billion.
Payward’s plan to raise new funds was reported in May. At the time, two people familiar with the matter said Payward was seeking a new round of financing at a $20 billion valuation.
The investment is also part of Nasdaq’s efforts to further advance the development of tokenized market infrastructure. Nasdaq said the company views Kraken as an investment to support the development of tokenized market infrastructure.
According to the financing agreement between the two parties, Kraken will distribute Nasdaq’s tokenized stocks on its own platform. The arrangement is intended to allow users to purchase and hold Nasdaq-listed stocks in tokenized form while having the same voting rights as ordinary stocks listed on the Nasdaq exchange.
Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi said: “The next phase of the partnership plan will push Nasdaq stock tokens into an uninterrupted track, while shareholder rights remain intact.”
Nasdaq announced the relevant plan in March, hoping to further give listed companies control over their tokenized shares. Subsequently, Nasdaq and Kraken launched a partnership to jointly build tokenized stock infrastructure connecting regulated markets with on-chain markets.
The transaction is also part of U.S. exchange operators’ efforts to expand their blockchain infrastructure. Before this, the New York Stock Exchange had also begun building its own trading venue, with plans to enable 24-hour, all-day trading of tokenized stocks and exchange-traded funds.
The investment further expands the partnership previously established between Nasdaq and Payward, and the two sides will continue advancing infrastructure construction related to tokenized stocks.