Skip to content
- Kraken joins forces with Backed and Solana to introduce stocks.
- Tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs will launch on the Solana blockchain.
- Access will be limited to non-U.S. users through the Kraken app.
Kraken has formed a strategic alliance with Backed and the Solana Foundation to launch a new service called xStocks. This platform offers access to U.S. stocks and ETFs tokenized onto the Solana blockchain.
The project offers a new model for accessing traditional financial products through blockchain platforms. The partnership aims at reducing entry barriers to global investing. Equity markets suffer from weaknesses like slow access, fees, and country exclusions.
Users from targeted non-American jurisdictions can trade tokens representing assets from within the Kraken app, backed by actual U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs. The tokens provide users with digital access to equities from across the world.
xStock utilizes Solana’s SPL token standard. The choice illustrates the scalability and speed capabilities of blockchain. Solana can execute a vast quantity of transactions per second with a solid basis for deployment in finance, where scalability and efficiency are key.
Kraken Picks Solana for Speed and Scale
Kraken selected Solana due to its solid infrastructure coupled with a documented ability to sustain large transaction volumes without extensive lag. The network of this blockchain is famous for its low costs and quick settlement. Its extensive use ensures more individuals and developers are able to access the platform.
Solana provides a seamless experience to developers as well as users. Its user-friendly environment makes it less challenging to onboard tokenized assets. The Solana platform hosts hundreds of decentralized apps, creating a suitable environment for financial assets like stocks.
This collaboration illustrates how open blockchains can facilitate complex financial products. This helps to integrate traditional finance with new digital alternatives. Thus, what might otherwise be a large gap between centralized finance and decentralized systems begins to close.
Global Rollout Brings Stocks to More Investors
This move creates a new avenue for those who seek borderless and round-the-clock access to U.S. equities. xStocks enables them to have digital ownership of known assets in a form native to a blockchain. These tokens are usable within the wider Solana universe, so they are interoperable with other decentralized finance instruments.
Kraken is also broadening its equities offering. Previously this year, it introduced trading for more than 11,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs for its American customers. Now, with stocks, it makes a comparable experience available to a broader global community. Next, Kraken and Backed will investigate introducing tokenized equities onto additional blockchains in the coming months.
The aim is to reach more users, reduce access complexity, and introduce flexibility to investing in equity. This effort shows increased demand for open financial systems. With more traditional assetsng on-chain, users everywhere can enjoy faster, lower-cost, and more accessible financial opportunities.
Related Reading: Crypto market reels with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP posting sharp losses
