Crypto exchange Kraken has launched trading in more than 7,000 U.S.-listed stocks for eligible customers across the European Economic Area, merging conventional equities with digital assets in a single regulated account. The rollout, reported on Aug. 18, 2026, follows a quiet introduction in Germany, the Netherlands and France and marks Kraken’s expansion of traditional equities outside the United States.
The service is provided through Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, Kraken’s Cyprus-based entity authorized under the EU’s MiFID II framework and supervised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. Eligible EEA users can trade commission-free through Kraken Pro, the Kraken mobile app and web platforms, although they must accept additional terms and conditions before the equities feature is activated.
Alongside the U.S. stocks, Kraken customers retain access to more than 600 crypto assets and over 700 xStocks. The xStocks are tokenized versions of U.S.-listed equities and ETFs, fully collateralized and backed 1:1 by underlying shares. Kraken says they can be moved to self-custody wallets and used with onchain applications, unlike synthetic derivatives. Total xStocks transaction volume has surpassed $38 billion since their June 2025 launch.
Kraken has also been expanding the tokenized equity infrastructure around xStocks. In March, its xChange execution layer began supporting more than 70 tokenized equities across Ethereum and Solana, recording $3.5 billion in onchain transactions and over 80,000 onchain holders at that time. In July, selected xStocks—including tokenized Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Strategy, Robinhood, SPDR S&P 500 ETF and Invesco QQQ ETF—became eligible as collateral for futures and margin positions on Kraken Pro. In August, the platform extended shareholder voting rights to more than 125,000 xStocks holders through the custody structure operated by Backed Assets (JE) Limited.
Mark Greenberg, chief commercial officer of Kraken parent Payward and head of Payward Services, said eligible customers can now choose how to access the same underlying exposure “whether through traditional shares or tokenized representation—without moving capital or changing platforms.” The move positions Kraken alongside platforms such as Bitpanda, Robinhood and Crypto.com, but with a dual traditional and tokenized equity offering. Kraken parent Payward reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter, up 17% year over year, while total platform transaction volume fell 13% to $310 billion.
The expansion comes as tokenized equities grow within the real-world asset market. They now account for roughly 15% of the RWA sector, with a total market capitalization near $2.8 billion, according to figures cited by The Block. Ondo Finance, Binance’s bStocks and Kraken’s xStocks together represent about 77% of that segment.
