Key Highlights
- Nasdaq collaborates with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to create and offer tokenized representations of publicly traded company shares across global markets.
- Owners of tokenized shares maintain complete governance privileges, encompassing voting authority and dividend entitlements.
- The initiative focuses on European and worldwide markets through Kraken’s distribution network, scheduled to go live in early 2027.
- This development follows Nasdaq’s September 2025 SEC filing requesting authorization for tokenized securities to operate alongside conventional stock trading.
- A parallel agreement connects Nasdaq with Boerse Stuttgart Group’s Seturion infrastructure to facilitate tokenized asset settlement throughout Europe.
Nasdaq has revealed a collaborative agreement with Payward, Kraken’s parent organization, aimed at constructing the necessary framework for facilitating trades of tokenized publicly traded stock certificates. The system plans to become operational during the first quarter of 2027, concentrating primarily on territories beyond American borders.
According to the arrangement, Kraken assumes responsibility as the distribution channel. The platform will provide customers throughout Europe and additional international regions with tokenized stock versions that maintain a one-to-one correspondence with actual public company shares.
Tokenized equities represent digital counterparts of authentic ownership instruments maintained on blockchain ledgers. These tokens accurately reflect both the valuation and ownership entitlements associated with their corresponding traditional stocks.
Nasdaq confirms that individuals holding these tokens preserve complete corporate governance capabilities. These privileges encompass participation in proxy voting procedures and dividend collection, identical to conventional equity holders.
The exchange identifies streamlining corporate administrative functions as a primary objective for this venture. Operations such as dividend distribution and shareholder voting would benefit from partial automation enabled by blockchain infrastructure.
Nasdaq plans to leverage Payward’s xStocks tokenization framework for this undertaking. This technology allows participants to transition securities from conventional institutional trading systems onto blockchain-based networks.
The initiative represents a continuation of previous efforts. Nasdaq filed documentation with the SEC during September 2025, requesting authorization to permit tokenized representations of its listed equities and ETFs to execute trades concurrently with standard shares on its platform.
That previous filing outlined how both tokenized and conventional formats of identical securities would process settlement through the Depository Trust, ensuring full interchangeability between versions.
Growing Market Activity
Nasdaq joins other major players pursuing similar objectives. Robinhood, Gemini, and Kraken have already introduced tokenized equity products throughout European markets. Coinbase and emerging company Dinari currently await U.S. regulatory clearance for comparable offerings.
Recently, ICE — which owns the NYSE — completed a strategic capital injection into OKX, establishing the exchange’s valuation at $25 billion. That transaction encompassed intentions to introduce additional tokenized stock instruments and cryptocurrency futures offerings.
During January, ICE announced its pursuit of regulatory authorization for a blockchain-powered infrastructure designed to support round-the-clock trading and on-chain settlement capabilities for tokenized securities.
Nasdaq’s strategic direction gains momentum following the GENIUS Act’s approval, legislation that has facilitated greater institutional acceptance of digital asset frameworks.
Expanding Tokenization Initiatives
Beyond the Kraken collaboration, Nasdaq unveiled an additional alliance with Boerse Stuttgart Group’s tokenized settlement solution, Seturion. This partnership integrates Nasdaq’s European trading platforms with specialized infrastructure designed for tokenized securities execution and settlement processes.
Tal Cohen, president of Nasdaq, said: “Tokenization has the potential to unlock the benefits of an always-on financial ecosystem — enhancing how investors access markets, how issuers engage with shareholders.”
The Kraken collaboration represents Nasdaq’s most significant commitment to date toward delivering tokenized equity instruments to both retail and institutional market participants across international markets.
