Kraken is pushing tokenized equities beyond a niche crypto product. Its xStocks platform now offers more than 60 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs and has been rolled out to eligible clients across the European Union. Company data and recent reports say the business has already handled more than $25 billion in cumulative transaction volume in under eight months, spanning centralized trading, DeFi liquidity, and mint-and-redemption activity.
xStocks brings U.S. equity exposure on-chain
xStocks lets users trade and transfer blockchain-based tokens tied to U.S. equities such as Tesla, Amazon, Nvidia, and broad-market ETFs. Each token is fully backed 1:1 by the underlying security, which is held by a licensed custodian in a bankruptcy-remote structure. The product offers 24/5 trading, extends access beyond standard Wall Street hours, and allows positions to move across compatible venues or into self-custody on-chain.
Kraken announced the EU rollout in September 2025. At the time, global head of consumer Mark Greenberg said many clients had for too long found it unnecessarily difficult to access U.S. markets. That statement captures the commercial pitch: tokenized equities are being framed as a way to reduce the time and market-access limits attached to traditional stock trading.
Kraken pulls issuance and trading under one roof
Kraken has agreed to acquire Backed Finance, the issuer behind xStocks, bringing issuance closer to the exchange’s own infrastructure. The move comes as Kraken prepares for a planned 2026 IPO. Reports cited in the source material add that xStocks distribution already reaches users in more than 110 countries through partners including Bybit and Gate.io.
The larger signal comes from Nasdaq. According to the source, Nasdaq will use xStocks tokenization technology from Payward, Kraken’s parent company, to move listed securities onto blockchain rails for global distribution. That suggests established market operators are willing to adopt crypto-native infrastructure rather than build separate systems from scratch.
From wrapped shares to new equity rails
Kraken’s thesis is to make equities as composable as stablecoins. Reports summarized in the source say tokenized stocks could be posted as collateral, built into on-chain strategies, or used as the reference layer for perpetual futures. A recent Business Wire release said Kraken has already listed what it described as the world’s first regulated tokenized equity perpetual futures, allowing traders to react to market events without waiting for traditional exchanges to open.
That shifts the idea of tokenized equities. Instead of serving only as digital wrappers tracking stock prices, they begin to look like a new market layer built for borderless transfer, on-chain settlement, and trading rules shaped by both securities regulation and smart contracts.
Regulatory limits remain in view
Regulation is still the main constraint. The World Federation of Exchanges has warned that some tokenized stock products function as “mimics” and may not grant full shareholder rights. The source also notes that Nasdaq filed in 2025 to list tokenized securities alongside conventional shares, a move tied to those concerns.
Kraken’s answer is clear in the structure of xStocks: full 1:1 backing, tighter control over issuance through the Backed Finance acquisition, and regulated derivatives built on top of the product. For Kraken, tokenized equities are no longer an experimental side business. They are shaping up as a strategic and revenue line ahead of the company’s planned public listing.