LSEG Partners with Payward to Tokenize Top UK Stocks
The London Stock Exchange (LSEG) has partnered with Payward, the owner of crypto exchange Kraken, to bring shares of the UK's largest listed companies to the blockchain.
The move will make available on Payward's xStocks tokenized equities framework the top 100 LSE-listed companies. The tokens, or xStocks, are one-to-one-backed versions of the underlying shares that can trade 24/7 on centralized exchanges, in self-custody wallets and across onchain applications.
The project is part of a broader trend to tokenize real-world assets such as equities, bonds, and commodities. This allows for easier trading and tracking of these instruments without the need for intermediaries or lengthy settlement times.
Payward's xStocks have already generated over $40 billion in total trading volume since their introduction, with nearly $20 billion settled onchain. The products now have more than 200,000 holders.