Nasdaq, in a strategic partnership with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, is advancing the development of tokenized equities on blockchain. This initiative aims to create blockchain-based versions of publicly listed shares while maintaining traditional ownership rights and governance. The tokenized equities are expected to be distributed globally, targeting a launch in early 2027. This move is significant given the equity market’s $126 trillion size, introducing potential efficiencies and innovations in the financial sector.
Nasdaq is developing a framework to issue blockchain-based versions of publicly listed shares while preserving traditional ownership rights and governance, creating tokenized representations of existing equities that maintain shareholder entitlements and corporate governance structures on distributed ledgers. The initiative specifies collaboration with Payward, the parent company of exchange operator Kraken, to handle global distribution of the tokenized stocks and to coordinate cross-border availability through that partnership.
The planned offering could go live as soon as the first half of 2027, with Nasdaq and Payward positioned to make the tokenized stock instruments available internationally. The arrangement uses the term tokenized stocks to describe these blockchain-based share versions and emphasizes that traditional ownership and governance attributes will be retained in the tokenized format.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) invested in the crypto exchange OKX in a transaction that values OKX at $25 billion, a figure reported alongside details of the agreement.
OKX is reported to have a user base of about 120 million accounts, a user-count figure cited in the coverage of the investment.
The deal explicitly includes plans to launch new tokenized stocks as part of the commercial scope agreed between the parties.
The arrangement also includes plans to introduce crypto futures alongside those tokenized stock offerings, with both product categories named in the transaction terms.
The inclusion of both tokenized stocks and crypto futures is described within the deal documents as part of the partners’ planned product set.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff Statement on Tokenized Securities clarifies that tokenized equities carry the same legal weight as traditional paper securities. The staff document describes tokenized securities as a category of securities represented in digital token form and distinguishes their status within existing securities law. The statement affirms that the legal status of an equity instrument does not change solely because it is issued or recorded in tokenized form. The staff guidance presents tokenized equities as legally equivalent to their conventional paper counterparts within the framework set out by the statement.
Major traditional and crypto exchanges are advancing the integration of securities onto blockchain infrastructure, moving toward tokenized equities on blockchain and related digital instruments as part of ongoing market developments. Coverage of these moves expresses cautious optimism about a transition to a more unified, blockchain-based equity market and reflects the forward-looking tone of reporting on this shift.
