On September 14, 2026, Kraken introduced onchain yield vaults for tokenized stocks, marking a new phase in how tokenized equities can be used as productive DeFi collateral.
The initial rollout covers SPYx, QQQx and NVDAx, giving holders exposure to the S&P 500 ETF, the Invesco QQQ Trust and Nvidia while adding a yield component. The product is available through KrakenFX and KrakenPro, with vault infrastructure provided by Veda Labs, risk curation by Sentora and lending through Kamino on Solana.
During the launch period, Kraken is displaying an estimated 2% APY net of fees for SPYx and QQQx and 1.8% for NVDAx, based on a trailing seven-day average. The vaults carry a 25% performance fee on earnings, applied at the protocol level, and the displayed APY is already net of that charge. Rewards accrue continuously, are converted back into the same xStock and automatically compound.
The strategy moves eligible xStocks into an embedded non-custodial wallet on the Ink network, then wraps and deposits them into a Veda vault. From there, the xStock is supplied as collateral to Kamino, stablecoins are borrowed against that position and deployed into DeFi strategies, and the resulting rewards are converted back into the original xStock. This allows users to maintain equity-linked exposure while compounding returns in kind, but it also introduces liquidation risk if the collateral asset such as NVDAx falls sharply.
Kraken notes that the extra yield is not additional income generated by the underlying companies or ETFs. Instead, investors are being compensated for putting tokenized equity exposure into a separate DeFi strategy. The product carries smart-contract, liquidity, bad-debt and market risks. Withdrawals are subject to a three-day waiting period, but Kraken warns that delays are possible during high demand or market stress. Deposits are not covered by government or bank protection programs, and users could lose some or all of their allocation.
The launch is a notable test for tokenized equities: assets that previously served mainly as representations for trading are now being used as reusable collateral inside DeFi. The vaults are available to eligible EEA and other supported clients, but are excluded in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and UAE. The key number to watch is how the initial 1.8% to 2% launch yields perform once they begin reflecting real onchain market conditions.
