Kraken's parent company Payward is pushing tokenized equities beyond U.S. borders, partnering with investment infrastructure provider GTN to bring Hong Kong-listed stocks onchain, with UK, European, and South Korean equities expected to follow subject to regulatory approvals. The expansion signals intensifying competition among crypto exchanges and traditional finance firms to tokenize global capital markets, a process that converts traditional assets like stocks into blockchain-based tokens that can trade around the clock with faster settlement times.

Why Are Crypto Exchanges Racing to Tokenize Global Stocks?

The tokenization of equities has become one of the fastest-growing bridges between cryptocurrency and traditional finance. Payward's xStocks platform, which launched last year with U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), has already processed more than $35 billion in trading volume and attracted nearly 200,000 holders across more than 500 tokenized securities. The move to international markets reflects a broader industry conviction that tokenization could fundamentally upgrade how capital markets operate by enabling faster settlement, round-the-clock trading, and more efficient asset movement.

Mark Greenberg, global head of Payward Services, stated the company's vision for this expansion.

"The biggest asset class that hasn't been tokenized yet is the rest of the world. One asset at a time, we're bringing truly global capital markets onchain until geography becomes irrelevant to investing,"

Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Payward Services at Payward

Until now, tokenized equity platforms have largely focused on replicating U.S. markets onchain, offering blockchain-based versions of popular stocks such as Nvidia, Apple, and Tesla. Expanding xStocks to overseas markets gives investors access to a broader universe of companies, including high-flying Asian firms tied to the artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain, which have become popular among global retail traders.

How Is the Tokenized Securities Market Evolving?

The competitive landscape in tokenized equities has intensified dramatically. Earlier this month, Robinhood expanded its tokenized stock offering beyond European users, and Coinbase is also planning to offer stock tokens. Even traditional market infrastructure providers are entering the space: the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the backbone of U.S. securities markets, has begun testing tokenized securities infrastructure, while Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have also started tokenization initiatives.

Financial institutions are betting heavily on this trend. Citi estimated that tokenized securities could grow into a $5.5 trillion market by 2030, including $2.6 trillion in tokenized equities alone. This projection reflects growing conviction that blockchain-based trading could reshape how global capital markets function.

Steps to Understanding Tokenized Equities and Their Market Impact

• Tokenization Process: Traditional stocks are purchased and held in custody by a third party, which then mints blockchain-based tokens representing ownership of those shares, allowing them to trade on decentralized networks.
• Custody and Infrastructure: GTN, which connects to more than 90 global markets, will provide execution, custody, and recordkeeping for the securities backing the tokens, and plans to offer xStocks products to its institutional clients subject to regulatory approvals.
• Regulatory Considerations: The industry is debating how tokenized stocks should be issued; some projects rely on third-party issuers while others argue securities should be issued natively on blockchain networks to eliminate intermediaries altogether.
• Market Expansion: xStocks currently supports more than 500 tokenized securities and remains unavailable to U.S. investors, but the platform's expansion to Hong Kong, UK, and South Korean equities opens access to millions of international retail and institutional traders.

The GTN partnership marks a significant milestone for xStocks, which started last year with U.S. equities and ETFs. The platform's growth to nearly 200,000 holders and $35 billion in trading volume demonstrates substantial retail and institutional appetite for onchain equity trading.

However, the expansion raises important questions about market structure and regulation. The announcement lands as the industry debates how tokenized stocks should be issued. Projects such as xStocks rely on third-party issuers that purchase and custody traditional shares before minting tokens. Others argue securities should be issued natively on blockchain networks, eliminating intermediaries altogether. This debate is drawing increasing attention from regulators and market infrastructure providers as tokenized securities move closer to the financial mainstream.

For investors outside the United States, Payward's expansion represents a significant development in accessing global equities through blockchain infrastructure. The partnership with GTN, which operates across 90 global markets, suggests that the infrastructure to support international tokenized trading is rapidly maturing. As regulatory frameworks continue to evolve, tokenized equities could eventually become a standard way for retail and institutional investors to trade stocks globally without geographic barriers.