Kraken parent Payward brings over 200 UK and European stocks to crypto trading

Kraken's parent Payward built xStocks earlier in 2025 with Swiss issuer Backed Finance, wrapping US equities like Apple and Tesla into Solana-based tokens for traders outside the United States. That followed Robinhood's own push into tokenized EU stock trading the same year, as both firms tried to give crypto-native users exposure to listed companies without a traditional brokerage account. Adding FTSE 100 and DAX 40 names extends that model from US mega-caps to European blue chips.

Eligible investors, meaning those outside restricted jurisdictions such as the US, can now hold tokenized shares in companies like those on the FTSE 100 or DAX 40 inside a crypto wallet rather than a brokerage account, and trade them alongside Bitcoin or Ether. Traditional brokers and exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange gain a new, unregulated competitor for retail order flow. Payward's platform benefits directly, with xStocks now spanning more than 1,500 tradable assets.

Whether xStocks keeps expanding geographically depends on how regulators in London and across the EU treat tokenized securities that sit outside MiFID II and FCA listing rules. Payward has so far kept US investors out entirely, a sign it expects the SEC to be the toughest audience. A formal ruling or enforcement action from either the FCA or the SEC on tokenized shares would determine whether this stays a niche product or becomes a template other exchanges copy.

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