Kraken has officially revealed the expansion of its tokenized equities product, xStocks, to Binance-backed BNB Chain. The move opens up broader access to U.S. equities for users outside the United States, allowing them to deposit and withdraw digital versions of stocks such as TSLA, AAPL, NVDA, and SPY. These tokenized assets, issued by the tokenization firm Backed, will operate as BEP-20 tokens on BNB Chain.
By launching on Binance Chain, Kraken enables deeper integration with decentralized finance platforms, including PancakeSwap. This rollout is expected to go live later in July. The tokenized stocks will become part of the Stock Alliance, a coalition working to extend the global footprint of real-world assets on blockchain networks.
Kraken Sees Multichain Future for Equities
Arjun Sethi, Kraken’s co-CEO, said the growing demand for xStocks highlights a shift toward a multichain, composable financial model. He emphasized that tokenized equities are not merely digital versions of traditional stocks but represent a new infrastructure for global finance.
This development marks one of the first major integrations of tokenized stocks with BNB Chain. Until now, Solana was among the few networks supporting such assets. The BNB Chain team echoed Kraken’s vision, stating that this partnership would let users engage with traditional equities entirely on-chain and in a decentralized environment.
By leveraging the Binance Chain’s speed and low transaction costs, tokenized stocks could unlock new DeFi utilities such as yield farming, lending, and real-time trading. These advancements offer more trading flexibility and increased accessibility for global investors.
Tokenization Gains Ground in Financial Markets
Kraken’s move aligns with a growing trend in tokenization across both crypto-native platforms and traditional institutions. Firms like Robinhood and BlackRock have recently expanded their efforts in this space. Analysts predict that tokenized assets could reach a $30 trillion market by 2030.
According to Galaxy Digital, the shift to 24/7 trading via blockchain presents both opportunities and challenges. Constant market access introduces potential volatility outside traditional trading hours. Meanwhile, established exchanges like the NYSE may face declining relevance as decentralized platforms reduce reliance on intermediaries.
The ancient financial institutions are already in discomfort to improve. Since more and more assets in the real world are being moved on-chain, centralized systems will have to evolve to at least keep up with the rapidly evolving financial environment.
