LSE Teams Up with Kraken Parent for Tokenized Blue Chips

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has partnered with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to tokenize 100 UK blue chips through the xStocks framework. This move will allow eligible investors in over 110 countries to gain continuous on-chain access to British blue chips.

However, UK-based investors will not be able to participate in this program due to regulatory reasons. The partnership between Payward and LSE gives the latter a route into established exchange infrastructure and paves the way for xStocks to be listed on LSE 24, a separate near-continuous venue.

The first companies participating in the xStocks framework have not been named, but it is expected that they will include some of the largest names in London's equity market. The xStocks are digital representations backed one-to-one by underlying shares or exchange-traded funds held through a custody structure.

Holders of these tokens will receive economic exposure and reinvested dividends, but not voting rights attached to ordinary shares.