Kraken parent expands tokenized stocks to Hong Kong, UK and South Korea equities Payward’s xStocks pushes beyond U.S. equities as competition to bring global stock markets onchain accelerates. – Crypto exchange Kraken’s parent Payward is expanding its xStocks platform beyond the…
S. to bring shares from Hong Kong, the U.K., South Korea and other markets onchain. – The move broadens competition in tokenized equities as Robinhood, Coinbase and others pursue similar initiatives. – Tokenized securities are one of the fastest-growing areas connecting crypto with traditional finance. The parent company of crypto exchange Kraken is expanding its tokenized stock offering beyond U.S. companies, betting investors want onchain access to equities from around the world
Payward, the developer of the xStocks framework, told CoinDesk it is working with investment infrastructure provider GTN to bring Hong Kong-listed stocks to the platform, with U.K., European and South Korean equities expected to follow, subject to regulatory approvals. The partnership also lays the groundwork for expanding xStocks beyond equities into other tokenized asset classes, the firm added. “The biggest asset class that hasn’t been tokenized yet is the rest of the world,” Mark Greenberg, global head of Payward Services, said in a statement. “One asset at a time, we’re bringing truly global capital markets onchain until geography becomes irrelevant to investing.” Taking tokenized stocks beyond the U.S. The move comes as competition in tokenized equities intensifies, with crypto firms and Wall Street institutions racing to bring stock trading onchain.
Earlier this month, Robinhood (HOOD) expanded its tokenized stock offering beyond European users, and Coinbase (COIN) is also planning to offer stock tokens. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the backbone of the U.S. securities markets, has begun testing tokenized securities infrastructure, while Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have…