Nasdaq and Kraken are tokenizing the stock market. Apple and Tesla shares are on the blockchain, 24/7

“Most people will notice this in 2030 and think it all happened overnight. This is wrong. It’s happening right now.”

On March 9, Nasdaq announced a partnership with Payward—the parent company of Kraken—to create what they call the Equities Transformation Gateway. The bottom line is in a few words: real shares of public companies – Apple, Tesla, S&P 500 ETF – are tokenized on the blockchain and traded 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with settlements in seconds. Not synthetic derivatives. Not derivatives. Real promotions on new rails. Holders retain all rights: voting at shareholder meetings, receiving dividends – everything is automated by smart contracts.At the start – international markets outside the United States. US retail investors will have access subject to SEC approval – expected by mid-2027.

Why it became possible now

Behind this announcement is a chain of infrastructure solutions that have been in preparation for months. On March 4—just five days before the announcement—Kraken Financial became the first crypto company in history to receive a master account with the Federal Reserve. Direct access to Fedwire, the same settlement system used by JPMorgan. This is not the periphery of the financial system: it is its core. The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, created a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins – they will become the unit of account for tokenized shares. In parallel, ICE, the parent company of the NYSE, invested in OKX at a valuation of $25 billion with a similar strategic goal: tokenization of the NYSE listing.

xStocks: $25 billion in transactions before the newspapers wrote about it

Most saw the Nasdaq-Kraken partnership as news. In fact, xStocks, Kraken’s tokenized stock platform, had already processed over $25 billion in transactions in the eight months prior to this announcement. The tokenized share category has surpassed $1 billion in value locked, tripling in the past six months. Nasdaq gave it scale and institutional justice—but the infrastructure was already in place.

📌Key facts:

▸ Partnership: Nasdaq + Payward (Kraken) – Equities Transformation Gateway, March 9, 2026
▸ Product: 1:1 tokenized shares with voting rights and dividends retained
▸ Mode: 24/7, settlements in seconds, start – international markets outside the USA
▸ USA: access subject to SEC approval expected by mid-2027
▸ Kraken Financial: the first crypto company with a Fed master account (March 4)
▸ xStocks: $25+ billion transactions in 8 months, $1+ billion TVL
▸ NYSE: ICE invested in OKX ($25 billion valuation) with a similar strategy

What does this mean for the cryptocurrency market

Stock tokenization is not a new token or another DeFi protocol. This is a switch in the tracks on which trillions of dollars of global investment are moving. When this happens completely, the border between the “crypto market” and the “stock market” will cease to exist. For holders of crypto infrastructure – Ethereum, Solana, stablecoins – this is a structural increase in demand for the years to come.

⚠️ The material is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation.