Nasdaq just dropped a cool $100 million into Payward the parent behind Kraken thru their venture crew and it feels kinda sinister how deep this partnership is getting rn. They’re aiming to drop tokenized stocks on a public blockchain with a launch set for Q2 2027 and the whole thing values Payward at a massive $21 billion according to the latest reports. 🦇
The deal builds on their earlier collab to push tokenized equities where Kraken’s xStocks will handle the permissionless layer for Nasdaq’s issuer tokens. Payward is also grabbing Nasdaq’s surveillance tech for their crypto equities futures and options spots 👁️.
No More Two Day Settlement Drags 🔮
Deutsche Börse already poured in $200 million earlier for a slice valuing Payward at $13.3 billion and Kraken started offering over 11000 US stocks and ETFs thru their brokerage that same month. The exchange is sliding into stocks derivatives and beyond just crypto with xStocks running on chains like Ethereum and Solana 🕸️.
“More than $2 trillion of stock trades run through the U.S. clearing system every day. Buys and sells net down by about 98 percent and the clearing house holds $10 billion to $20 billion of collateral against what is left while it waits a day to settle. Cutting that wait from two days to one in 2024 released $3 billion. Onchain settlement removes the wait,” said Arjun Sethi Co-CEO of Payward.
Pushing Nasdaq Equity Tokens Forward 🌙
Inside Nasdaq the Digital Liquidity Networks team is leading the charge for always on market infra. This move “advances our work on Nasdaq Equity Tokens and helps build a more connected financial system while preserving the trust transparency and integrity that underpin capital formation” according to Tal Cohen their President 🩸.
Nasdaq rolled out the equity token framework this year to keep issuer control and shareholder rights solid. Next they want global distribution trading and post trade stuff locked in. But holders of these tokenized assets don’t get full ownership of the real shares and that spark is heating up in the Robinhood AMC drama over synthetic exposure without actual rights 💀. ✨🖤
Just another echo from the void by iconofsin.eth 💖
