LSE Brings 100 Top Companies Onto Blockchain with xStocks

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is joining forces with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, to bring the 100 largest companies listed on the exchange onto blockchain through its xStocks platform. This move aims to deepen the connection between traditional financial markets and digital-asset infrastructure.

Each token will be backed on a one-to-one basis by the corresponding underlying stock, allowing eligible investors in more than 110 countries to gain exposure to tokenized UK equities. However, UK investors will not be able to trade these products initially due to regulatory limitations.

The partnership also includes an examination of how the LSE's Digital Securities Depository (DSD) could support the settlement and servicing of tokenized securities. This collaboration is broader than simply creating digital representations of publicly traded shares and seeks to explore how traditional exchange infrastructure can interact with blockchain technology while retaining existing operational and regulatory standards.

The xStocks platform has already processed more than $40 billion in cumulative trading volume, including nearly $20 billion settled directly onchain. The proposed LSE 24 listing represents a longer-term component of the partnership and remains subject to regulatory clearance.