Kraken rolls out 60 tokenized US stocks to European Economic Area clients

Kraken announced on September 10, 2025 the rollout of its xStocks service across the European Economic Area, giving clients access to 60 tokenized US equities backed 1:1 by real shares, tradable 24/5 beyond traditional market hours.

A strategic launch for Europe

The xStocks service, already operational in the United States and select jurisdictions, is now open to clients residing in the European Economic Area (EEA). At launch, Kraken is offering 60 digital assets, including 55 stocks from iconic US-listed companies and 5 exchange-traded funds (ETFs). European investors can trade tokenized versions of Tesla (TSLAx), Apple (AAPLx), Nvidia, and GameStop (GMEx).

Each token is backed one-to-one by the underlying share and issued as an SPL token on the Solana blockchain. The technical architecture enables trading 24 hours a day, 5 days a week outside traditional market hours, and 24/7 for users who withdraw their tokens to a self-custody wallet. The minimum investment is set at 1 US dollar, allowing fractional share purchases. No trading fees apply when buying xStocks with USDG or USD, although a spread may be built into the transaction price.

How the service works

The xStocks product stands apart from traditional equities through several defining features:

• 1:1 backing: each token corresponds to a real share held by a custodian
• No voting rights: holders gain price exposure only, with no shareholder privileges
• Auto-reinvested dividends: distributions are automatically converted into additional tokens
• DeFi composability: tokens can serve as collateral or be used within decentralized finance protocols

Kraken initially deployed xStocks on Solana, with plans to extend support to Ethereum and BNB Chain. This multi-chain strategy aims to make equities as composable as stablecoins across web3 ecosystems, as Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Consumer at Kraken, explains.

xStocks service at a glance

« The future of capital markets will not be a one-size-fits-all approach. The real technological breakthrough lies in permissionless, interoperable platforms like xStocks. With xStocks, assets cannot be trapped inside a single exchange, wallet, or even blockchain. They can move as freely as any crypto asset at any time. »

Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Consumer at Kraken

A complex European regulatory framework

Kraken’s European rollout of xStocks rests on the regulatory infrastructure the exchange has gradually built in the region. In Ireland, Payward Ireland Limited is authorized as an e-money institution by the Central Bank of Ireland. Two other entities — Payward Europe Solutions Limited and Payward Global Solutions Limited — are registered as crypto-asset service providers (CASP) under the MiCA regulation. In Belgium, Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited is regulated by CYSEC as an investment firm under MiFID.

However, EEA clients face specific restrictions. They cannot deposit or trade a large number of crypto assets, including Aave (AKE), Dai (DAI), Tether (USDT, EURT, USDT0), USDC and its variants. Babylon Bitcoin staking is also prohibited for them, and opt-in rewards (OIR) are only available for Bitcoin. Furthermore, xStocks are not available in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, or Australia. The SpaceX IPO product via xStocks is not accessible to UK clients.

A rapidly expanding market

Kraken’s launch taps into the strong growth momentum of the tokenized real-world assets (RWA) market. Volume generated by xStocks has already surpassed $100 million, and tokenized stocks are now the fastest-growing sub-sector within the RWA niche, estimated at $25 billion overall. Boston Consulting Group forecasts this market could represent trillions of dollars by the end of the 2030s.

Kraken is not alone in this space: Robinhood launched a similar service in Europe in June 2025, and Gemini also offers tokenized stocks. On the traditional side, Nasdaq has filed a tokenized securities platform proposal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Competition is therefore intensifying between crypto platforms and established exchange infrastructure.

Building momentum toward an IPO

This European expansion represents another step in building Kraken’s momentum toward a potential initial public offering. The platform is looking to raise $500 million in a new funding round, and a Kraken spokesperson told Decrypt in March 2025 that an IPO is on the company’s roadmap. Speaking to DL News, co-CEO Arjun Sethi clarified that no firm timeline has been set for filing the IPO paperwork.

Yet the tokenized stocks sector faces mounting regulatory scrutiny. The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has called on regulators to take a stricter stance, arguing these products can be « imitations » lacking key shareholder rights such as voting. The tension between financial innovation and investor protection will be one of the main challenges for Kraken and its competitors in the coming months.

Conclusion

The EEA rollout of xStocks marks a decisive step in Kraken’s pan-European strategy and illustrates the growing convergence between traditional markets and the crypto ecosystem. With 60 assets at launch, a multi-chain infrastructure, and a MiCA regulatory framework, Kraken positions itself as a reference player in Europe’s tokenized equities market. The coming months will reveal whether this initiative durably attracts European investors and strengthens the company’s position in the IPO race, especially as recent acquisitions of NinjaTrader ($1.5 billion) and Breakout highlight an accelerated diversification.

Sources

• The Block
• Yahoo Finance
• Kraken Support
• Kraken xStocks
• Bloomberg
• DL News

This article is published for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research (DYOR) before making any decision.