With xStocks now clearing over $10B in volume, Kraken is positioning tokenized assets at the center of its broader market strategy.
Kraken has enabled around-the-clock trading for its tokenized stocks, a move that leverages its crypto infrastructure to directly challenge the traditional Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 operating hours of legacy stock exchanges like the NYSE and Nasdaq.
The feature, now live on its Kraken Pro platform for professional traders, extends trading for its “xStocks” from a 24/5 schedule to full 24/7 coverage. The initial rollout includes 10 of its most popular tokenized equities, such as TSLAx (Tesla), SPYx (S&P 500 ETF), and NVDAx (Nvidia).
Since launch, xStocks have recorded more than $10 billion in combined CEX and on-chain transaction volume, reflecting growing demand for tokenized market exposure. While the immediate change is an extension of hours, the strategic implication is much broader.
The move is designed to address one of the oldest limitations of capital markets: the inability of investors to trade or manage risk when markets are closed.
By allowing trading on weekends and public holidays, Kraken aims to let professional traders react instantly to global news, after-hours earnings reports, or macroeconomic events, rather than waiting for the opening bell on Monday morning.
xStocks are available to users in more than 160 countries and operate across multiple blockchains, initially launched on Solana and later expanded to Ethereum, providing broader access and liquidity for tokenized equity exposure. Each tokenized asset is fully backed 1:1 by its underlying stock or ETF, held by a licensed custodian in a bankruptcy-remote structure — a key difference from synthetic exposure products.
Kraken recently moved to deepen its involvement in tokenized securities by agreeing to acquire Backed Finance, the platform responsible for issuing xStocks and other blockchain-based tokens mirroring real-world stocks and ETFs. The acquisition is intended to bring these products closer to Kraken’s core trading business as the company prepares for its planned public listing in 2026.
This places Kraken at the forefront of a broader push to create “always-on” markets. It also presents a crypto-native alternative to efforts by firms like 24 Exchange, which recently gained SEC approval to offer 23/5 trading of actual U.S. equities. While 24 Exchange aims to extend the hours of the traditional system, Kraken is using its blockchain-based infrastructure to bypass it entirely.
The move reinforces a key trend of convergence, in which the core principles of digital assets are being applied to address inefficiencies in traditional finance. By applying crypto’s continuous-market model to tokenized versions of major equities, Kraken is taking another step toward redefining how and when global markets operate.
