Catenaa, Monday, May 26, 2025 – Crypto exchange Kraken announced Thursday it will soon offer tokenized shares of major US companies—including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia—to international customers, marking a bold step into the growing market for blockchain-based securities.
Partnering with asset tokenization firm Backed, Kraken will launch over 50 US stocks and ETFs as crypto tokens on the Solana blockchain.
Branded as “xStocks,” the product will be available exclusively to users outside the United States and will trade 24/7, mirroring the always-on nature of crypto markets.
The initiative allows global investors to gain exposure to traditional equities through blockchain technology, even outside standard market hours.
Unlike Binance’s short-lived attempt to tokenize stocks in 2021, Kraken is launching xStocks at a time when the US government under President Donald Trump has rolled back many crypto-related enforcement actions, including charges previously brought against Kraken by the SEC.
While Kraken already offers more than 11,000 traditional stocks and ETFs to U.S. clients via its regulated brokerage, this new product bypasses conventional market infrastructure.
Kraken remains a private company, having launched before rival Coinbase.
As traditional finance firms like BlackRock and Robinhood move into tokenized assets, Kraken’s launch signals renewed institutional appetite for merging equity markets with decentralized technologies.
The xStocks rollout reflects broader trends as regulatory climates soften and demand rises for round-the-clock trading access to blue-chip equities in token form.
