Wall Street just shook hands with the blockchain. On March 9, 2026, Nasdaq, the exchange that lists Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla, announced a formal partnership with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to build infrastructure to put publicly traded stocks directly on a blockchain. This is not a pilot programme or a white paper. It is a named partnership, a defined product, and a target launch date.
The deal centres on xStocks, Kraken’s tokenised equity product, which has already processed over $25 billion in total transaction volume since launching less than a year ago. Under the partnership, Nasdaq will use this framework to issue tokenised versions of listed stocks as digital tokens that are one-to-one representations of real shares, carrying the same dividend and voting rights as traditional equity. The platform is expected to go live in H1 2027, initially serving investors in Europe and other eligible international markets.
Here is everything you need to know, verified against official press releases and reputable news sources.
Partnership at a Glance
Stocks: The Data Behind Kraken’s Platform
The gateway will be powered by xStocks, Kraken’s existing tokenised equity product. According to the Kraken press release:
Payward will act as the equities transformation gateway, enabling tokenised equities to move between permissioned institutional markets and permissionless blockchain networks in eligible jurisdictions.
How Shareholder Rights Apply to Tokenized Stocks
Do tokenised shares carry the same rights as traditional ones? According to Nasdaq’s official statements, yes, at least for core governance rights:
Importantly, both tokenised and traditional shares would be settled through the Depository Trust system, ensuring they remain fully interchangeable with conventional securities.
Who Can Access This and Who Can’t?
Stocks are not registered under the US Securities Act and are unavailable to US persons or in the UK. They are issued by Backed Assets (JE) Limited, a Jersey-based company. In the EU/EEA, they are offered through Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Ltd., which is authorised under MiFID II. All participants must pass KYC and AML checks by Payward Services, and access in other jurisdictions depends on local licensing.
GCC Outlook: Could Tokenized Equities Reach the Middle East?
While the initial rollout of tokenized equities will focus on Europe and other eligible international markets, interest in blockchain-based financial infrastructure is also growing across the Gulf. Financial centres such as the Dubai International Financial Centre and Abu Dhabi Global Market have introduced regulatory frameworks for digital assets, while the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) has been expanding access to international investment products as part of broader market modernisation efforts.
Tokenized equities are not currently available in GCC markets, but future availability would depend on local regulatory approvals and licensing frameworks if global adoption continues to grow.
How the Industry Is Moving Toward Tokenized Securities
Institutional adoption of digital asset infrastructure has accelerated following the passage of the GENIUS Act, which created a clearer regulatory framework for blockchain-based financial products. The Nasdaq-Kraken deal is part of a broader industry shift:
Nasdaq also announced a separate partnership with Boerse Stuttgart Group’s platform Seturion to support tokenised securities settlement across Europe.
What This Means in Plain Terms
If implemented, this could allow investors to hold stocks on a blockchain, enabling faster settlement, use as DeFi collateral, and broader market access in regions where traditional brokerage distribution is limited. Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi highlighted the capital efficiency case: in fragmented systems, portfolio utilisation U = E / C is capped because each venue requires isolated collateral. With interoperable tokenised equities, the same collateral can support multiple strategies simultaneously within a unified real-time risk framework.
Bottomline
The Nasdaq-Kraken partnership marks one of the most significant moves yet by a major stock exchange to embrace blockchain infrastructure. With a proven product already in the market, institutional-grade compliance built in from day one, and a named SEC proposal underpinning it, this is not speculative; it is structured, scoped, and scheduled.
The real test will come when the infrastructure goes live, and markets respond. For now, what is confirmed is this: the world’s second-largest stock exchange has committed to bringing equities onto the blockchain, and the groundwork is already being laid.
