Yesterday Nasdaq announced it has agreed to acquire the LeveL Markets ATS, the third largest Alternative Trading System in the United States with 2,500 institutional clients. Nasdaq’s stated goal is to bridge the divide between digital and traditional trading. While LeveL Markets will continue to operate as a standalone entity, it will fall under a newly created Nasdaq division, Digital Liquidity Networks, led by Roland Chai. The division will also bring together Nasdaq’s existing tokenization capabilities and digital asset technology solutions, with Chai describing its mission as building “the programmable, always-on market infrastructure of the future.”
The stock exchange has held a strategic minority investment in the ATS firm since 2021, with average daily volume growing 56% year over year in 2025. Some of LeveL’s recent digital moves include a January partnership with EU DLT Pilot Regime firm 21X, which operates an onchain trading and settlement venue. 21X has been eyeing the US market for over a year. LeveL Markets also integrated with the institutional crypto exchange EDX Markets to enable access for its clients.
Until now, Nasdaq has made a handful of tokenization moves. The highest profile is the option to settle Nasdaq trades as DTC tokens rather than in traditional form, expected to come online in October when the DTCC’s tokenization solution launches following recent initial trades. In Europe, Chai oversaw the tokenization partnership with Boerse Stuttgart Group’s Seturion, which enables tokenized structured products to trade across seven European venues. Nasdaq has been exploring issuer sponsored tokens and partnered with Kraken parent Payward for distribution and to connect with DeFi networks. The technology arm of Nasdaq, including Nasdaq Calypso, has also been leaning into tokenization for collateral mobility. With the acquisition of LeveL Markets, the digital strategies of Nasdaq and NYSE may be coalescing.
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