@Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange @Krakenfx, has expanded its xStocks tokenized equities platform to cover stocks listed in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. The m
@Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange @Krakenfx, has expanded its xStocks tokenized equities platform to cover stocks listed in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. The move broadens the platform's reach well beyond its original US equity focus, giving global users on-chain access to leading international companies.
xStocks was built to make equities natively accessible across blockchain networks. Every xStocks tokenized equity is backed 1:1 by the underlying share, held in custody by a regulated entity, giving investors direct financial exposure to the companies they believe in without the friction of traditional brokerage infrastructure. The addition of Hong Kong, UK, and South Korean listings extends that model to some of the world's most actively traded equity markets.
The expansion follows a period of rapid growth for the xStocks framework. Since launching less than a year ago, xStocks have surpassed $25 billion in total transaction volume, including more than $4 billion settled on-chain, with over 85,000 unique holders across supported networks. Payward has also been broadening its institutional partnerships, with xStocks establishing partnerships with Nasdaq, Franklin Templeton, Deutsche Börse Group, and others, bringing infrastructure, asset expertise, and credibility to accelerate the future of tokenized assets.
By settling trades with on-chain finality, xStocks removes several friction points that have historically made cross-border equity access difficult for retail and institutional participants alike. Today most equities sit inside brokerage systems where their utility is largely limited to directional exposure, and that structure fragments liquidity across venues and leaves a meaningful amount of capital static relative to its potential utility.
Payward is rolling out xStocks to allow retail investors in more than 110 countries to participate at the offering price, and the integration of international markets strengthens that global mandate. The Payward team has committed to opening xStocks to more investors across even more markets as regulations allow.
The Hong Kong, UK, and South Korea expansion positions xStocks as a genuinely cross-border equities layer at a time when demand for round-the-clock, borderless stock exposure continues to grow among both retail and institutional crypto users.
Sources:Payward Partners with Nasdaq to Develop xStocks-Powered Gateway (Kraken Blog)Payward Brings Tokenized IPO Access For Retail Investors Across the Globe (BusinessWire)One Year of xStocks: The Tokenized Equities Framework That Made a Market (xStocks)
