Payward and Nasdaq have partnered to develop an equities transformation gateway linking regulated and decentralised tokenised equity markets.
Following this announcement, Payward and Nasdaq have announced a partnership to develop infrastructure that connects tokenised equity capital markets with decentralised blockchain networks. The collaboration centres on an equities transformation gateway powered by Payward's xStocks framework, designed to enable tokenised equities to move between permissioned institutional markets and permissionless decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystems in eligible jurisdictions.
Bridging regulated markets and DeFi infrastructure
According to the official press release, under the terms of the partnership, Payward will act as the primary settlement layer for transactions conducted under Nasdaq's equity token design in eligible jurisdictions during an initial period. Payward Services will also handle Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) onboarding compliance for participants accessing the gateway.
The gateway itself is structured to allow clients in qualifying jurisdictions to transfer tokenised equities between regulated, permissioned market environments and the permissionless DeFi ecosystem. This architecture is intended to preserve issuer rights, regulatory compliance, and price integrity throughout the process.
Nasdaq equity token design and timeline
Nasdaq's equity token design is a new framework for tokenising equities that is built to retain issuer control and the underlying rights associated with company shares, while remaining compatible with existing regulatory structures. The framework and related distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based services are expected to become operational beginning in the first half of 2027. In addition, the broader rationale behind the initiative reflects a view shared by both organisations that tokenisation has the potential to modernise how securities are traded and settled, expanding global access, and improving operational efficiency across financial infrastructure.
From a capital markets perspective, the gateway addresses a structural limitation in traditional systems: collateral fragmentation across venues. When equity assets are represented as programmable, interoperable instruments on blockchain infrastructure, they can, in principle, function as collateral across multiple trading strategies simultaneously, spanning spot markets, derivatives, and financing environments, without requiring duplication across isolated systems. This is the efficiency argument underpinning the partnership's commercial proposition.
For participants in markets where traditional brokerage access is limited, tokenised equities could also widen access to public market exposure. In more developed markets, the focus shifts to capital efficiency, enabling equity collateral to move more fluidly across trading, lending, and hedging strategies within a shared liquidity framework.
The gateway will be available in jurisdictions where xStocks are currently supported and where Payward holds the relevant regulatory registrations, licences, and approvals.
