On August 18, 2026, Kraken introduced US-listed stock trading for eligible clients in the European Economic Area. The launch integrates more than 7,000 equities from major American stock exchanges directly into the platform’s regional offering.
Trading access is available to verified EEA users via the Kraken mobile application and the Kraken Pro interface. The service operates under the regulatory framework of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II across European jurisdictions.
Investment activities are managed by Payward Europe Digital Solutions, an investment firm incorporated in Cyprus. The entity maintains formal regulatory authorization from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission under license number 342/17.
European clients can manage traditional shares alongside more than 600 crypto assets and over 700 xStocks. This consolidated setup enables investors to hold conventional equities and tokenized equivalents within a unified account without transferring capital to external brokers.
The integrated interface allows users to switch between conventional asset classes and on-chain instruments without multiple onboarding processes. Orders are processed through dedicated execution pathways aligned with the regulatory status of each instrument.
Trading parameters and tokenized equity structure
Kraken confirmed that transactions in US equities are available commission-free for eligible users in the EEA. The exchange noted, however, that foreign exchange conversion rates and market spreads still apply to individual order executions.
The platform’s xStocks instruments represent tokenized versions of public equities backed 1:1 by underlying shares. Backed Assets Limited issues these tokens in Jersey, while Payward Digital Solutions Ltd distributes them under its Bermuda Monetary Authority digital asset license.
Unlike conventional shares, tokenized equities can be transferred to self-custody wallets and traded outside standard stock market operating hours. Platform activity built on earlier milestones, including reaching the cumulative volume in xStocks of 25 billion dollars documented previously.
Since its rollout in 2025, the xStocks product line has generated more than $38 billion in total transaction volume. Kraken is using the framework to bridge traditional equity markets with decentralized financial infrastructure.
Competitive standing in tokenized real-world assets
As of August 17, 2026, data from Token Terminal identifies xStocks as the second-largest tokenized equity issuer by market capitalization, with roughly 609 million dollars in circulating value.
Ondo Finance leads the tokenized equity sector with approximately $974 million in market capitalization. The concentration of capital in these two protocols highlights how institutional-grade real-world asset issuance is currently distributed on public blockchains.
The market position of bStocks from Binance ranks third globally, representing approximately 544 million dollars in tokenized stock capitalization. Together, the top three platforms represent the primary share of tokenized public equities.
Mark Greenberg, Chief Commercial Officer at Payward, stated that the launch removes artificial barriers between traditional shares and tokenized formats, allowing investors to choose their preferred exposure structure on a single platform.
Kraken plans to expand its integrated stock trading offering into additional global jurisdictions in the coming months. The company stated that market rollouts will proceed as local regulatory authorizations and compliance frameworks are finalized.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
