What are xStocks?
xStocks are blockchain tokens that track listed shares and exchange-traded funds. Custodians hold matching securities for the tokens in circulation. The issuer backs each xStock 1:1 with its referenced security, according to the xStocks platform. Eligible investors get the price move without buying the ordinary share at a broker.
AAPLx tracks Apple. NVDAx tracks Nvidia. Supported venues let eligible users buy fractions from $1. The tokens are not company shares. Holders do not vote and they have no direct legal claim on the firm. Kraken says a declared dividend is added to the token balance after withholding tax. There is no cash cheque.
xStocks pass the economics of a share to a token holder, but not the shareholder rights. Illustration: CryptoMode.
Who issues xStocks, and under what rules
Backed Assets (JE) Limited issues the tokens. Payward, parent of Kraken, built the framework. The names on those two jobs are not interchangeable.
The products are securities under Jersey law. For EEA distribution they sit under a base prospectus approved by the Liechtenstein Financial Market Authority, with final terms for each ticker. Kraken’s risk disclosure describes them as tokenized representations of listed stocks and ETFs, not a direct equity investment. Holders do not own the underlying share and have no claim on residual assets if the company is wound up.
Backed Assets says the matching securities sit in regulated custody, bankruptcy-remote from its day-to-day balance sheet. NVDAx can track Nvidia while the holder still owns only the tokenized security, not the share in the vault. Rights, corporate actions, redemption and insolvency claims all follow that line.
How tokenized stock trading works
The issuer mints a token linked to a security. Custodians hold shares equal to the tokens outstanding. The same products run on Solana, Ethereum, BNB Chain, TON, Arbitrum and Optimism.
Kraken’s getting-started guide is the venue path for people who can use the exchange:
1. Open a verified Kraken account in an allowed country.
2. Accept the xStocks terms and confirm you are not a U.S. person.
3. Fund with fiat, crypto or a stablecoin. Kraken converts if needed.
4. Search the ticker with an “x” on the end (AAPLx, NVDAx).
5. Buy. Kraken says USDG and USD purchases carry no trading fee. Other pairs use Instant Buy fees.
6. Leave the tokens on Kraken, or withdraw a supported token to a Solana or Ethereum wallet and trade it onchain.
Kraken’s book is open 24 hours, Monday to Friday. Some onchain venues run through the weekend. Kraken lists weekend hours as still in development. A withdrawn token cannot be deposited at a traditional stock brokerage.
The price still has to clear against the listed share and against whatever liquidity is on that venue. After cash-equity markets close, the onchain print can drift. Market makers and redemptions usually close most of that gap when the underlying market reopens. Not always immediately.
Residents of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are shut out of the main offering. Kraken’s getting-started page also flags Japan. The check happens at account level. We could not test this ourselves. The main offering is closed to our writer’s country.
What 1:1 backing does not give you
The tokens can move from an exchange account to a wallet to an onchain book. They also pick up blockchain, custody and venue risk. Fees, redemption rules and tax depend on where you hold them.
You have the economics of the share. You do not have the share. Returns can lag the listed name once fees, tax, hours and thin books are in.
Where xStocks now trades
Payward said on 1 September 2026 that xStocks had passed $40 billion in total volume, more than $20 billion of it onchain, across more than 200,000 holders in more than 110 countries. In the same note it said it would tokenize the 100 largest London-listed companies with the London Stock Exchange, first products expected in the coming weeks if approval comes, with a possible listing on LSE 24. UK residents cannot buy the current xStocks offering. The London names would therefore launch without the home market.
A July deal with GTN sketched a path past U.S. names, starting in Hong Kong, then Europe and South Korea. xStocks put the catalog above 500 assets and holders near 200,000 at that announcement. OKX listed more than 40 xStocks in July against USDT. On 10 August five spot markets opened on Hyperliquid’s HyperCore; Payward then counted more than 600 assets. By 9 September the xStocks site showed 715 stocks and ETFs and repeated the $40 billion volume figure, on more than ten networks.
On 10 September Nasdaq said Nasdaq Ventures would invest $100 million in Payward. The two firms also said they would keep building Nasdaq Equity Tokens, aimed at the second quarter of 2027, and that Payward would run Nasdaq surveillance tools. That is a cheque into the parent and a different token. Nasdaq says NETs are meant to carry voting rights in line with shares on its own exchange. An xStock does not.
How large the market is
Outstanding value depends on who is counting. The Block, using RWA.xyz on 1 September, had tokenized equities at about $2.53 billion and xStocks at about $620.1 million. Write-ups of Token Terminal’s 23-issuer set on 6 September had the market at $3.1 billion: Ondo $946.8 million, xStocks $692.7 million, Binance’s bStocks $678.2 million. RWA.xyz’s stocks dashboard on 15 September showed $2.87 billion of distributed tokenized-stock value. Its xStocks platform page the same day showed $643.18 million of distributed asset value. Those prints are not interchangeable, and none of them is the $40 billion volume figure.
Chart: CryptoMode. Data: Token Terminal, 6 September 2026.
Chart: CryptoMode. Data: Payward, 1 September 2026; Token Terminal, 6 September 2026.
xStocks’ own 8 September weekly note put volume from 2 through 8 September at $603.9 million, with SPYx the busiest token that week. The firm published the number.
Source: xStocks weekly research, week of 8 September 2026
Chart: CryptoMode. Data: Payward announcements and the xStocks website.
In June Payward opened a window for eligible users to register interest in selected U.S. IPOs. It says allocated shares would be tokenized after pricing and kept 1:1 backed. Whether a given deal is available depends on the offering, the venue and local rules.
FAQs
Are xStocks real stocks?
No. Backed Assets (JE) Limited issues tokenized securities that use referenced shares as backing and track their price. Holding one does not make you a shareholder of the listed company.
Can xStocks trade 24/7?
Some onchain venues do. Kraken’s xStocks book is 24/5. Weekend hours on Kraken are listed as in development.
Do xStocks pay dividends?
Kraken generally lifts the same token balance after withholding tax. It does not describe a cash payout.
Can investors withdraw xStocks?
Eligible users can send supported tokens to a Solana or Ethereum wallet, subject to the venue and local rules. They cannot withdraw onto a traditional stock brokerage.
What is the main difference from ordinary shares?
A listed share can carry shareholder rights. An xStock gives the price exposure without those rights.
This article is for information only. It is not investment advice. Figures come from company disclosures and third-party trackers on the dates shown. The catalog, the eligibility map and the market value all move.
Disclaimer
This article is provided for information only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
