Nasdaq pitches tokenized collateral as tens of billions in freed capital
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said tokenizing collateral could free tens of billions of dollars tied up across the financial system. Quartz reported Nasdaq's venture arm committed $100 million to Kraken's parent Payward in September, with tokenized Nasdaq-listed stocks due in the second quarter of 2027.
The Investor · Invest desk
Nasdaq venture arm: $100 million into Payward. Kraken: would distribute tokenized Nasdaq-listed stocks. Financial institutions: risk and collateral work would run nonstop. Non-US companies: interest in tokenization, US markets. Some investors: access to out-of-reach asset classes.
- What it costs cost Nasdaq venture arm Agreed in September to invest $100 million in Payward to build infrastructure for tokenized equities, claim 17
- What's now possible capability Kraken (Payward) Its platform would be the distribution channel for blockchain-based versions of Nasdaq-listed stocks, claim 17
- What it limits constraint Financial institutions Risk and collateral management, traditionally done while markets are closed, would have to run continuously, claim 8
- Who's exposed exposure Companies outside the US Growing interest in tokenization and access to American capital markets, Sethi told CNBC, claim 14
- Who's exposed exposure Some investors Greater connectivity could open asset classes previously out of reach for them, claim 20
| Who | How | Kind | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq venture arm | Agreed in September to invest $100 million in Payward to build infrastructure for tokenized equities | cost | 17 |
| Kraken (Payward) | Its platform would be the distribution channel for blockchain-based versions of Nasdaq-listed stocks | capability | 17 |
| Financial institutions | Risk and collateral management, traditionally done while markets are closed, would have to run continuously | constraint | 8 |
| Companies outside the US | Growing interest in tokenization and access to American capital markets, Sethi told CNBC | exposure | 14 |
| Some investors | Greater connectivity could open asset classes previously out of reach for them | exposure | 20 |
What happened
- Speaking at the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore, Friedman said tokenizing Treasurys, equities and money market funds alongside the flow of money makes collateral 'very fluid.'
- She tied the past year's jump in institutional interest to the US Genius Act's stablecoin framework, saying, 'If we can tokenize money, then we can tokenize the flow of capital.'
- That institutional push is converging with retail investors' long demand for round-the-clock trading, a market Friedman said 'has been about 10 years ahead.'
- Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi told CNBC that non-US firms want both tokenization and access to US capital markets, citing one with about $25 million in revenue seeking a way in.
Why it matters
- What it limits constraint Because not every asset is liquid enough for continuous trading, by Friedman's own account, the fluid-collateral model covers a bank's most-traded holdings.
- Who has to decide decision Committed capital and a named launch counterparty give tokenized Nasdaq-listed equities a launch date and a funded partner.
- What's now possible capability If settlement and collateral move onto shared rails, investors shut out of certain asset classes could reach them. That would widen the buyer base for those markets.
Next story · Invest · 4d ago
Wells Fargo is in talks to source crypto liquidity from Kraken parent PaywardConfirmed2 publishers
The $100 million Nasdaq's venture arm is putting into Payward, extending an existing equities-tokenization collaboration, builds toward a pool Friedman puts in the tens of billions [17][16][1]. Read "tens of billions" at its floor, call it $20 billion, and the commitment is at most half a percent of the prize [19].
Friedman was plain about which part is cheap. "The easiest part is the exchange infrastructure," she said [7]. The costly part is time. Institutions have long used the hours when markets close to patch systems and rebalance risk, and a 24/7 market takes those hours away [8]. Risk and collateral management then have to run without a break. "Everything has to be real time all the time," she said [9].
Nasdaq's answer is software it can sell. It has put digital agents inside its risk platform that for now only make recommendations, and Friedman said banks could later let them act directly [12]. "AI is critical for 24/7," she said [13]. So the $100 million is pointed at the half she calls easy, the exchange and distribution rails. The continuous-risk rebuild she calls hard is work she is pointing banks toward doing themselves, with Nasdaq's agents on offer.
This could go a few ways from here. The regulatory footing holds and tokenized collateral is genuinely usable around the launch. Or the continuous-risk machinery costs more and ships slower than the exchange layer, and the launch stays a pilot. Or demand concentrates in a handful of the most-traded instruments and tokenized collateral stays a corner of the book.
What to watch
- Whether the tokenized-equity tokens actually launch in the second quarter of 2027 or slip into pilot.
- Whether Nasdaq's risk agents move from making recommendations to acting directly for banks.
- Which assets clear Friedman's 'liquid enough' bar for continuous 24/7 trading.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption25
- Hype gap+40
- Incentives75
- Confidence60
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers- Builder
- Builder 21%
- Operator
- Operator 30%
- Investor
- Investor 49%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman said tokenization could free up tens of billions of dollars in capital tied up in assets used as collateral across the global financial system.
- [2]
Friedman spoke to CNBC's Joanna Ossinger at the TOKEN2049 conference in Singapore.
- [3]
Friedman said tokenizing assets such as Treasurys, equities and money market funds, along with the flow of money, could make collateral more liquid.
- [4]
If you tokenize all those instruments along with the flow of money, then the collateral becomes very fluid.
- [5]
Friedman said institutional interest in tokenization has grown over the past year, pointing in part to the passage of the Genius Act in the US, which established a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
- [6]
If we can tokenize money, then we can tokenize the flow of capital.
- [7]
The easiest part is the exchange infrastructure.
- [8]
Friedman said financial institutions have traditionally had periods when markets are closed to update systems and manage risk, but operating around the clock would require those processes, including risk and collateral management, to take place continuously.
- [9]
Everything has to be real time all the time.
- [10]
Not every asset is liquid enough to support a 24/7 environment.
- [11]
Friedman said growing institutional interest is converging with retail investors' long-standing demand for around-the-clock trading, adding that the retail ecosystem 'has been about 10 years ahead.'
- [12]
Nasdaq has launched a series of digital agents within its risk management platform that initially provide recommendations, and Friedman said banks could over time use those agents to take more direct action.
- [13]
AI is critical for 24/7.
- [14]
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, told CNBC that companies outside the US are showing growing interest in tokenization and access to American capital markets.
- [15]
Sethi pointed to a company generating roughly $25 million in revenue that was exploring ways to access capital markets, as well as larger international companies interested in tokenization and US public listings.
- [16]
Nasdaq and Kraken's parent company, Payward, have an existing collaboration on the tokenization of equities.
- [17]
Nasdaq's venture capital arm agreed in September to invest $100 million in Payward to build infrastructure for tokenized equities, under which Kraken's platform would serve as a distribution channel for blockchain-based representations of Nasdaq-listed stocks.
- [18]
Nasdaq and Payward expect to launch the tokenized-equity tokens in the second quarter of 2027.
- [19]
The $100 million Nasdaq committed is at most 0.5% of the capital Friedman projects, taking the floor of 'tens of billions' as $20 billion.
- [20]
Friedman said greater connectivity across the global financial system could open up access to asset classes that were previously out of reach for some investors.
Sources
4 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cnbc.comTokenization could unleash tens of billions of dollars in trapped capital, Nasdaq CEO says
1 article · October 8, 2026
- crypto.newsNasdaq CEO says tokenization could unlock billions
1 article · October 11, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comNASDAQ CEO: Blockchain tokenization to transform global finance, unlock billions
1 article · October 8, 2026
- qz.comNasdaq CEO says tokenizing collateral assets could free tens of billions in trapped capital
1 article · October 9, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Stablecoin Regulation
- Round-the-Clock Trading
- Collateral Management
- Asset Tokenization