The Wall Street Journal reports that Nasdaq has announced that it will work with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to develop a system for issuing and trading tokenized versions of stocks and other exchange-traded products.
According to the plan, tokenized shares would give investors the same corporate governance rights as ordinary shareholders, including voting by proxy and receiving dividends. Nasdaq said the initiative will focus on making corporate activities such as dividend payments and voting more efficient by automating some of the processes through blockchain technology. The platform is expected to launch in early 2027.
Kraken will serve as a sales partner for this project. The arrangement will allow Kraken’s customers outside the United States, particularly in Europe and other international markets, to take advantage of a 1:1 tokenized version of the public company’s shares.
The initiative builds on a proposal Nasdaq filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September seeking approval to allow tokenized versions of publicly traded stocks and exchange-traded products to trade on exchanges alongside traditional stocks.
Under the proposal, both the tokenized and traditional versions would be settled through a custodian trust to ensure they remain fungible.
Last week, exchange operator ICE made a strategic investment in OKX, valuing the exchange at $25 billion, and entered into a deal to offer new tokenized stocks and crypto futures products.
