Payward expands xStocks tokenized equities to Hong Kong, UK, Europe, and South Korea

Payward, the parent company behind crypto exchange Kraken, is rolling out its xStocks tokenized equities platform to users in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, broader Europe, and South Korea. The move dramatically widens the geographic footprint of a product that lets non-US investors trade tokenized versions of American stocks and ETFs around the clock, five days a week.

What xStocks actually is

xStocks wraps US equities and ETFs into tokenized representations on the Solana blockchain. The tokens are issued by Backed Assets (JE) Limited and distributed through various Payward entities operating under licenses in Bermuda and Cyprus. Each token is backed 1:1 by an actual share held in custody. The platform currently supports tokenized versions of popular names like AAPL, TSLA, and SPY, the S&P 500 ETF. Trading runs 24 hours a day, five days a week, which means a retail investor in Hong Kong can trade tokenized Apple shares while actual US markets are closed.

The bigger strategy

On December 2, 2025, Kraken announced the acquisition of Backed Finance, a firm specializing in tokenized asset issuance. That deal was designed to bring the token creation process in-house, giving Payward more control over how xStocks tokens are minted and managed.

Effective March 9, 2026, Payward and Nasdaq plan to launch what they’re calling an “Equities Transformation Gateway,” infrastructure that bridges traditional stock exchange plumbing with blockchain-based settlement and distribution.

By June 2026, Payward intends to enable retail access to tokenized US IPOs through the xStocks framework. Payward plans to reach 110 countries through a combination of direct Kraken access and what it calls “Alliance partners,” distribution agreements with other platforms that can offer xStocks to their own user bases.

Why this matters for investors

The regulatory picture remains the most significant variable. Payward is operating through licensed entities in multiple jurisdictions, but the fact that xStocks are explicitly not available to US users reflects where the compliance boundaries currently stand, as the SEC has shown little appetite for blessing tokenized stock products. This expansion focuses entirely on non-US markets where regulators have been more receptive.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.