Kraken is preparing to roll out a new product that will allow users in select countries outside the US to trade tokenized versions of major American stocks and ETFs 24/7.
According to the May 22 announcement, the offering will include names such as Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, with plans to expand the selection over time.
The announcement comes a few weeks after the exchange acquired NinjaTrader in February and subsequent expansion into stock trading last month.
xStocks
The product, dubbed xStocks, is built in partnership with Backed and will tokenize popular US-listed assets as SPL tokens on the Solana (SOL) network.
Unlike conventional equity markets, xStocks will be tradable 24/7 through Kraken’s platform and compatible Solana wallets.
The structure also allows the tokenized assets to be used onchain, such as for collateral in decentralized applications, use cases not possible through traditional brokerage systems.
Kraken’s Global Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg said that xStocks aims to offer faster, cheaper, and more inclusive access to US equities. He also criticized the current systems as slow, expensive, and geographically limited.
According to Greenberg:
“[xStocks] is what the future of investing looks like.”
Democratizing access to US markets
Kraken’s move builds on its recent rollout of a conventional equities trading service for US-based clients, which includes over 11,000 publicly listed stocks and ETFs.
The company intends to expand the service to the UK, Europe, and Australia, while xStocks represents a parallel expansion using blockchain rails.
The launch comes amid heightened interest in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), driven by demand for open financial infrastructure and the efficiencies introduced by digital rails.
Kraken has not announced a specific launch date for xStocks, but said it intends to grow the list of supported jurisdictions and tokenized assets over time.
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