Kraken takes a major step forward in democratizing traditional investment by launching xStocks, tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on the Solana blockchain. This groundbreaking innovation now enables investing in Apple, Tesla, NVIDIA, or the S&P 500 with blockchain advantages, 24 hours a day, from anywhere in the world.
What Exactly is an xStock?
An xStock is much more than a simple digital certificate. It’s an SPL token issued on the Solana blockchain that faithfully replicates the price of a U.S. stock or ETF. The key feature? Each token is backed 1:1 by a real security held in reserve by Backed Finance or a regulated partner custodian.
Concretely, when you purchase a Tesla xStock, you own a blockchain token that corresponds exactly to a Tesla share stored in an institutional vault. This architecture ensures that your token’s value precisely tracks the underlying stock, while benefiting from Solana’s speed and programmability.
Strategic Global Deployment
The launch of xStocks by Kraken proceeded in successive phases since spring 2025. Born from a strategic partnership with Backed Finance, the service was first deployed on Solana before announcing an ambitious multi-chain strategy including BNB Chain, TRON, and other high-performance networks.
The gradual rollout reached over 140 countries before expanding specifically to the 30 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA). This European expansion relies on Kraken’s MiCA license, enabling operations within a clear and secure regulatory framework for European clients.
Today, the catalog features 60 tokenized assets – approximately 55 individual stocks and 5 ETFs – accessible directly via the Kraken mobile app and the professional Kraken Pro platform. Trading volumes already reach billions of dollars since opening to the European market, demonstrating genuine enthusiasm for this new asset class.
How to Use xStocks Daily
Access to xStocks takes just a few clicks on Kraken Pro. After logging in, users must activate the dedicated module and complete a brief suitability questionnaire – a standard procedure for this type of financial product. Once validated, all features become available.
xStocks trade exactly like any other digital asset on the platform: real-time order books, advanced trading tools, API access for algorithmic traders, and near-instant settlement. The platform enables 24/5 trading, with the goal of progressively achieving full 24/7 availability.
One major advantage lies in fractional investing: it’s possible to purchase stock portions from just 1 euro or 1 dollar. Gone are the entry barriers related to the nominal price of a NVIDIA or Amazon share – blockchain truly democratizes access to these securities.
The Decisive Advantages of Tokenization
Beyond financial accessibility, xStocks offer unprecedented flexibility. Tokens can be withdrawn from Kraken to a personal wallet (self-custody), opening the door to sophisticated DeFi strategies. They can serve as collateral in lending protocols, be combined with other tokenized assets, or integrated into complex smart contracts.
The automated dividend system represents another notable innovation. Rather than distributing cash, dividends are automatically reinvested in the same asset, directly increasing the number of tokens held. This on-chain capitalization eliminates friction and optimizes compound returns.
For EEA residents, regulatory compliance represents a major competitive advantage. Thanks to its MiCA license and MiFID and EMI approvals, Kraken offers these products within a solid legal framework, reassuring for both institutional and retail investors.
What Risks Should Be Considered?
Like any innovative financial product, xStocks carry specific risks that are essential to understand. The primary concern involves counterparty risk: the token’s value entirely depends on the issuer’s and its custodians’ ability to maintain the 1:1 parity and properly manage underlying reserves.
In case of regulatory, operational, or legal failure of these entities, the token’s convertibility could be compromised. This represents a fundamentally different risk from direct stock ownership through a traditional broker.
On the tax front, the situation remains evolving. In France, these instruments are currently treated as cryptocurrencies, but the European Union could progressively align them with traditional financial instruments as MiCA implementation progresses and articulates with MiFID.
Liquidity can also fluctuate, particularly outside U.S. market hours, potentially leading to increased volatility. Finally, xStock holders benefit from neither voting rights nor access to shareholder meetings – an inherent limitation of this tokenized structure.
An Accelerating Fundamental Trend
Kraken’s launch of xStocks fits into a broader movement of tokenizing traditional assets. While the market remains modest on a global scale, growth is exponential. Other platforms like Bybit have followed suit, and Solana’s DeFi ecosystem is seeing new use cases emerge around these hybrid assets.
This convergence between traditional finance and blockchain could redefine market accessibility and liquidity standards. xStocks are just the beginning – tokenization could eventually extend to real estate, commodities, or even government bonds, creating a truly global and 24/7 accessible financial paradigm.
For investors, this innovation represents a unique diversification opportunity, combining the relative stability of stock markets with blockchain’s flexibility and innovation. The challenge remains navigating this new ecosystem carefully, keeping in mind the specific risks of these novel instruments.
