London Stock Exchange Teams with Kraken Parent to Tokenize UK Stocks
The London Stock Exchange has partnered with Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, to bring tokenized shares of the 100 largest London-listed companies onto the xStocks framework.
xStocks are blockchain-based products that can trade around the clock through supported centralized exchanges and move into self-custody wallets. The partnership aims to give eligible investors across more than 110 countries access to tokenized versions of U.K.-listed companies.
The agreement comes as Payward has been expanding its xStocks framework beyond its original focus on U.S.-listed companies. In July, Kraken rolled out 7,000 U.S. stocks to eligible customers across the European Economic Area, putting conventional U.S.-listed shares alongside more than 700 xStocks and over 600 crypto assets within the same account.
The London Stock Exchange plans to support trading of xStocks on its LSE 24 venue, subject to regulatory approval. Payward and the LSE will also explore issuing natively LSE-issued equity tokens, which would allow exchange members to issue and service shares directly onchain.