Kraken’s parent company Payward has brought more than 200 UK and European-listed shares onto its xStocks tokenised equities platform, its biggest move yet beyond US stocks.
The first batch covers what Payward called “the most actively traded companies listed in the UK and European Union”. Further listings will be added on a rolling basis, the company said on Wednesday, November 11.
The catch for British readers is that the tokens are not available to them. Payward said distribution and eligibility were unchanged by the expansion, and that xStocks “continue to be unavailable to investors in the United Kingdom”. They are also off limits in the US and to US persons.
All 40 DAX names on day one
In a separate announcement, Payward said it had tokenised every constituent of Germany’s DAX 40 index. Tokens for SAP, Siemens, Allianz and Deutsche Telekom are among those available from day one.
The DAX tokens are also available on 360X, a Deutsche Börse Group company regulated under the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime, according to both Payward and Deutsche Börse. Xetra-Gold, Deutsche Börse’s gold-backed exchange-traded commodity, has been added as an xStock too.
“Access to capital markets is still drawn on a map, and it still depends on holding the right passport,” said Mark Greenberg, Payward’s chief commercial officer. “A portfolio should not have borders or trading hours.”
Carlo Koelzer, head of digital assets and FX at Deutsche Börse Group, said the partnership was “exactly the kind of collaboration that accelerates the transformation of capital markets”.
How the tokens work
Each xStock is backed one-for-one by the underlying share, held at a regulated custodian for as long as the token trades, Payward said. The tokens trade on Kraken and on partner platforms in the xStocks Alliance, and can move across blockchains including Solana, Ethereum, TON, Ink and X Layer.
Execution and custody of the underlying shares are handled by GTN, a brokerage infrastructure firm. The UK and EU are the first markets delivered under Payward Services’ partnership with GTN, which Payward said let it deploy hundreds of new assets “in a matter of weeks”.
Holders should be clear about what they own. CoinDesk and Cointelegraph, citing Kraken’s risk disclosure, reported that the tokens give exposure to a share’s price but no legal claim on the underlying company. xStocks are issued by Backed Assets (JE), a Jersey company, and offered to eligible Kraken customers through a Bermuda-licensed affiliate. Payward states they are not registered with any local securities regulator.
On Kraken in the European Economic Area, xStocks trade 24 hours a day, five days a week, according to the company. Other venues may offer round-the-clock trading.
Growth and what comes next
xStocks launched in June 2025 with tokenised US stocks and ETFs. Payward said the framework now spans more than 1,500 assets, holds over $1.1 billion in assets under management and has handled more than $45 billion in total transaction volume across more than 550,000 unique holders.
Token Terminal data put xStocks’ market capitalisation at about $1.1 billion, third behind Binance’s bStocks and Ondo Finance, Cointelegraph reported.
Payward said the launch delivers on its plan, agreed with the London Stock Exchange in September, to tokenise the top 100 London-listed equities. Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE intends to list xStocks and trade them on its LSE 24 venue in 2027.
Hundreds of Hong Kong-listed shares will follow “in the coming weeks”, Payward said, with other international markets after that.
For readers weighing the exchange itself, our Kraken review covers its fees, products and regulation, and our guide to the best crypto exchanges compares it with rivals. UK investors who want direct ownership of FTSE or DAX shares will, for now, still need a conventional broker; our round-up of the best trading platforms is a starting point.
AI disclosure: AI tools assisted with research and drafting of this piece. An Invezz editor reviewed the facts, sources and wording before publication. Any opinions or analysis are Invezz’s, not those of an automated system.
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