Kraken's parent company Payward is partnering with fintech infrastructure provider GTN to bring tokenized international equities to its xStocks platform, starting with Hong Kong-listed companies and expanding to the United Kingdom, Europe, and South Korea, subject to regulatory approval. This move marks a significant step beyond the U.S.-focused tokenization strategy that has dominated the industry so far, positioning blockchain infrastructure as a tool for connecting fragmented global capital markets rather than simply digitizing individual stocks.

What Are Tokenized Stocks and Why Go Global?

Tokenized stocks are blockchain-based digital representations of real company shares, backed one-to-one by actual securities held in regulated custody. Kraken launched its xStocks platform in 2025 to allow investors outside the United States to trade these tokens, initially focusing on U.S. equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The platform has since expanded to more than 500 tokenized assets and processed over 35 billion dollars in transaction volume.

The new partnership with GTN extends this model internationally by providing execution, custody, and market connectivity across more than 90 global markets. Rather than forcing investors to navigate separate exchanges, currencies, and trading hours for different countries, the collaboration aims to make listed equities from multiple jurisdictions accessible through a single blockchain-based infrastructure.

How Does This Partnership Change the Tokenization Landscape?

The GTN partnership represents a shift in how the industry thinks about tokenization. Instead of focusing solely on converting individual securities into digital tokens, Payward is building infrastructure that connects fragmented capital markets across borders. GTN will handle the technical and regulatory complexity of accessing equities in different countries, while Payward provides the tokenization framework that brings those securities onto blockchain networks.

This approach has practical implications for financial institutions and individual investors:

• Reduced Fragmentation: Investors can access equities from Hong Kong, Europe, the UK, and South Korea through a single platform rather than opening accounts in multiple jurisdictions.
• Simplified Technology Stack: Financial institutions can expand into new asset classes without rebuilding their existing technology infrastructure, according to GTN's design philosophy.
• Future Asset Class Expansion: The partnership creates a pathway for tokenizing additional asset classes beyond equities, pending regulatory approvals.

"For decades, we've accepted that capital markets should be fragmented by country, currency, and market hours. That's a legacy financial infrastructure problem," said Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Payward Services.

Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Payward Services

How Is Kraken Positioning Itself Against Competitors?

Kraken's international expansion strategy distinguishes it from other platforms entering the tokenized equities space. Robinhood recently launched tokenized U.S. equities on its proprietary blockchain, while Coinbase is preparing a one-to-one backed tokenized stock offering through its Base network. However, unlike these competitors, Payward is targeting international equity markets first, beginning with Asia before expanding into Europe and other regions.

The company is also building multiple revenue streams around tokenized securities. In May, Payward secured preliminary authorization from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), paving the way for Kraken to offer regulated trading, custody, and institutional services in the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, Payward partnered with Nasdaq earlier this year to develop a tokenized equities gateway targeted for 2027.

These moves collectively signal a broader evolution in Kraken's business model. The platform is transitioning from operating primarily as a cryptocurrency exchange toward becoming a provider of regulated infrastructure spanning digital assets, tokenized securities, and global capital markets. As financial institutions increasingly explore blockchain-based issuance and settlement, the competition is shifting beyond tokenizing individual stocks toward building the infrastructure capable of connecting capital markets across jurisdictions.

What Does This Mean for the Future of Global Finance?

The GTN partnership reflects a maturing tokenization ecosystem where the focus is moving from proof-of-concept to practical infrastructure. Rather than asking whether blockchain can tokenize securities, the industry is now asking how blockchain can solve real problems in global capital markets, such as cross-border settlement delays, currency conversion friction, and the need to maintain separate accounts in different countries.

For institutional investors and retail traders, this development could eventually mean faster settlement times, lower costs, and access to international equities without the traditional barriers of geography and market hours. However, the expansion remains subject to regulatory approvals in each jurisdiction, underscoring that tokenization's growth depends not just on technology but on building trust with regulators worldwide.