Kraken Brings xStocks Tokenized Equities to European Investors
September 10, 2025

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has expanded its xStocks platform to investors across the European Union, giving users on-chain access to U.S. stocks and ETFs.

The move allows eligible EU clients to trade tokenized versions of popular U.S. equities directly through the Kraken app, removing barriers that have traditionally made cross-border market access challenging.

“Expanding xStocks to the European Union was a natural next step for Kraken, given our growth strategy and presence in the region. For too long, gaining exposure to U.S. markets has been unnecessarily difficult, and xStocks removes many of those obstacles,” said Mark Greenberg, Kraken’s global head of consumer.

Developed in partnership with Swiss fintech firm Backed, xStocks are blockchain-based representations of real-world stocks or ETFs. These tokens mirror the value of the underlying asset, allowing investors to trade or hold them like cryptocurrencies while maintaining self-custody.

EU investors can now trade tokenized certificates tracking U.S. equities without relying on traditional brokerages. The tokens are composable in DeFi protocols, enhancing flexibility and participation in digital financial markets.

Kraken’s rollout offers 24/5 trading for EU users and aligns with broader trends toward decentralization, transparency, and democratization of financial markets. The global tokenized asset market is projected to reach trillions of dollars by the 2030s, according to BCG and McKinsey.

xStocks currently operate as SPL tokens on the Solana blockchain, with plans to expand to BEP-20 and Ethereum mainnet, supporting fast, low-cost transactions and deeper integration into the growing DeFi ecosystem.