Kraken and Nasdaq Join Forces to Bring $25 Billion in Stocks to the Blockchain

In a major push to merge traditional finance with crypto, Kraken’s parent company, Payward, has partnered with Nasdaq to put stocks on the blockchain.

The collaboration, announced Monday, utilizes the xStocks framework. This infrastructure allows tokenized shares—backed by real stocks—to trade on open networks while staying compliant with Nasdaq’s rules.

The numbers behind the move:

• $25 Billion: The total transaction volume processed by xStocks since its launch less than a year ago.
• $4 Billion: The amount of that volume settled directly on-chain.
• 85,000+: The number of unique holders currently using tokenized equity products.
• 2027: The target for Nasdaq to launch its own equity token design (first half of the year).

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The system is already live in Europe. Backed by Deutsche Börse, the regulated venue 360X went live with xStocks in early 2026, offering tokenized versions of major assets like NVDAx and TSLAx.

Kraken will act as the gateway, handling KYC and compliance for users, while the underlying shares remain safely custodied with traditional brokers like Alpaca.