US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has agreed to acquire Backed Finance AG, which helps issue xStocks, adding to a series of acquisitions the exchange has made this year while bringing the tokenized stock platform under its own roof.
According to Tuesday’s announcement, Kraken plans to more tightly integrate xStocks issuance, trading, and payments into its products, including its Global Money app, as well as expand support for additional blockchains and markets.
XStocks is a platform that issues tokenized versions of publicly traded stocks, such as stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It currently offers over 60 tokenized products and has recorded over $10 billion in combined exchange and on-chain trading volume since launching earlier this year.
Tokenized assets run on the Solana and Ethereum blockchains and can be traded on-chain 24/7. xStocks says they are self-stored and can be used across multiple networks.
The acquisition comes after Kraken rolled out Backed’s xStocks product to targeted European users in September.
Kraken also operates the xStocks Alliance, a network of affiliated chains and trading venues. Kraken said the acquisition will consolidate its network and support broader interoperability and liquidity as tokenized stocks are added to more markets. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal.
Kraken, which filed a confidential U.S. IPO application in November, has been active on the acquisition front this year. It acquired NinjaTrader in May, followed by the proprietary trading platform Breakout in September and the designated contract marketplace Small Exchange in October.
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Tokenized stocks gain traction across major platforms
The rise of tokenized stocks, or digital tokens that represent ownership of traditional stocks on the blockchain, has been one of the most prominent cryptocurrency trends this year.
In June, xStocks was launched on several DeFi platforms based on Bybit, Kraken, and Solana. The lineup consisted of tokenized versions of blue-chip stocks such as Netflix, Meta, Coinbase, Amazon, Nvidia, McDonald’s, Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft.
In the same month, global trading platform Robinhood launched a layer 2 blockchain on Arbitrum to roll out tokenized stock trading for European Union users. The platform debuts with over 200 US stocks and ETF tokens, available for commission-free trading 24/7.
According to data from Dune Analytics, Robinhood has 943 tokenized stocks and ETFs on Arbitrum, with a total on-chain value of approximately $10.8 million.
RWA.xyz independently tracks approximately $656 million in regulated public tokenized equity, with monthly transfer volume of $1.14 billion and approximately 118,000 holders. Among regulated issuers, Ondo has around 52% of the market, followed by Backed Finance with 24% and Securitize with 20%.
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