Kraken Parent Payward Extends Tokenised Stock Platform to UK, Hong Kong and South Korean Equities
Updated: 6 days ago
UK investors have so far only been able to watch tokenised stock trading develop in the US from the sidelines. That is changing before our eyes, with multiple new product developments in the last seven days.
What happened
Following LSE 24's recent announcement, Payward, the parent company of Kraken and developer of the xStocks framework, confirmed on 22 July that it is extending tokenised stock trading beyond the United States, working with investment infrastructure provider GTN to bring Hong Kong listed shares onto the platform first, with UK, European and South Korean equities to follow.
The move follows a run of expansion from tokenised equity platforms this year.
Robinhood's own blockchain moved from testnet to public mainnet on 1 July, and Coinbase has separately signalled plans to offer tokenised stocks. Tokenised equity perpetual trading volumes across exchanges have grown from around 85 billion dollars in January to roughly 470 billion dollars in June, a rise driven largely by platforms such as Binance, Hyperliquid and OKX offering leveraged, round the clock exposure to instruments that otherwise trade on limited hours through KYC gated brokerages.
Impact for the UK?
Bringing UK listed equities onto a tokenised, round the clock trading venue raises the same questions we've tracked all year around PISCES, custody and market abuse rules, only this time for a retail facing crypto exchange rather than a regulated UK platform. The FCA's cryptoasset regime, with its authorisation gateway opening in September, will determine how much of this activity a UK based platform could legally offer domestically, and how far Payward's international rollout can reach UK residents in the meantime.
For UK founders and investors who have spent early part of the year watching PISCES and the Digital Securities Sandbox develop as the sanctioned route to tokenised UK equity, a global retail platform moving faster and outside that perimeter is a reminder that regulation and market practice do not always move at the same pace.
What comes next
Payward has not given a firm date for when UK equities will go live on xStocks, but the direction of travel appears clear. As more exchanges chase the same always on, globally accessible model that crypto pioneered, the pressure on London Stock Exchange Group and other UK venues to respond, whether through PISCES, LSE 24 or similar initiatives, will only increase.
Key Takeaways
Payward, Kraken's parent, is extending its xStocks tokenised stock platform beyond the US.
Hong Kong listed shares arrive first, working with infrastructure provider GTN, with UK, European and South Korean equities to follow.
Tokenised equity perpetual trading volume has grown roughly 450 per cent since January, reaching about 470 billion dollars a month in June.
The rollout raises fresh questions about how the FCA's incoming cryptoasset regime treats offshore platforms offering UK equities to UK residents.
Traditional exchanges face growing competitive pressure to match the round the clock model crypto platforms have already normalised.
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How we got here
xStocks launched in June 2025 with tokenised versions of US stocks and exchange traded funds, issued by Backed Finance AG, a company founded in 2021. Tokens of this kind rely on an issuer that buys and holds the underlying shares before minting a token against them. On 2 December 2025 Kraken announced it had agreed to acquire Backed, bringing the issuer behind xStocks in house. At that point xStocks had passed 10 billion dollars in combined exchange and onchain trading volume within six months and was live on Solana and Ethereum.
The July 2026 expansion adds a different kind of partner. GTN, which connects to more than 90 global markets, will provide execution, custody and recordkeeping for the securities that back the new tokens. CoinDesk reported that the UK, European and South Korean listings are expected subject to regulatory approvals, and that the products remain unavailable to US investors.
Key facts at a glance
Payward reports more than 500 tokenised securities, more than 35 billion dollars in trading volume and nearly 200,000 holders on xStocks.
Hong Kong listed shares come first, with UK, European and South Korean equities expected subject to regulatory approvals.
GTN also plans, subject to approvals, to offer xStocks products to its institutional clients.
Citi has estimated tokenised securities could reach 5.5 trillion dollars by 2030, including 2.6 trillion dollars in tokenised equities.
The FCA cryptoasset authorisation gateway opened on 30 September 2026 and the application period closes on 28 February 2027.
What it means for UK founders and investors
The UK timetable is now fixed. The new cryptoasset regime commences on 25 October 2027, and the activities it brings into regulation include operating a qualifying cryptoasset trading platform, dealing as principal or agent, arranging deals and safeguarding cryptoassets for others. Any platform hoping to serve UK residents from that date will need to have applied during the current window.
For a UK company whose shares might one day appear as a token, the structure matters. In the xStocks model the token is created by a third-party issuer that holds the underlying shares, so the listed company is not the issuer and does not raise capital from it. That is a different proposition from PISCES or the Digital Securities Sandbox, where the company or a regulated venue is directly involved. Founders weighing tokenised routes may want to take professional advice on which regime applies before engaging with any platform.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
Which markets is Kraken parent Payward adding to its xStocks tokenised stock platform?
Payward confirmed on 22 July that it is extending tokenised stock trading beyond the United States. Working with infrastructure provider GTN, it is bringing Hong Kong listed shares first, with UK, European and South Korean equities to follow.
When will UK equities go live on Payward's xStocks?
Payward has not given a firm date for UK equities on xStocks. How far the rollout can reach UK residents will depend partly on the FCA's cryptoasset regime, whose authorisation gateway opens in September.
How fast is tokenised equity perpetual trading growing?
Tokenised equity perpetual trading volumes across exchanges grew from around 85 billion dollars in January to roughly 470 billion dollars in June, driven largely by platforms such as Binance, Hyperliquid and OKX.
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