Payward (Kraken parent company) joins forces with GTN to expand xStocks beyond U.S. stocks

Payward, Kraken's parent company, has partnered with GTN to expand the xStocks tokenized stock platform beyond U.S. stocks and ETFs.

Summary

Payward and GTN will jointly promote xStocks out of the U.S. equity market and first provide Hong Kong-listed stocks to global investors. GTN will provide execution, custody and billing infrastructure covering more than 90 international financial markets. Since its launch, xStocks has more than 500 tokenized assets, with cumulative transaction volume exceeding US$37 billion.

Both parties will start with Hong Kong listings and later plan to expand into the UK, Europe, South Korea and other markets. According to Payward's announcement on July 22, the expansion will depend on regulatory approvals and licenses from each region. The partnership may also introduce more asset classes to xStocks in the future.

GTN will provide the traditional market infrastructure needed to support the next phase of xStocks 'development, with services covering execution, custody, ledger keeping and bookkeeping functions in more than 90 markets. Payward continues to provide a tokenization framework for creating blockchain-based versions of underlying assets.

xStocks opens a new chapter in global development

After taking the lead in launching tokenized U.S. stocks, xStocks is entering the international market and locking in Hong Kong-listed assets for the first time. One integrated company, wider coverage, and large-scale direct access to the global market.

Both parties chose Hong Kong as the first market for international expansion, and subsequent plans to gradually increase UK-listed stocks, European securities and South Korean assets. GTN also plans to provide xStocks services to institutional customers after obtaining the required licenses in each market.

Mark Greenberg, global head of Payward Services, said traditional capital markets still separate investors by region, currency and trading session. He pointed out: "For decades, we have implicitly recognized that capital markets should be segmented by country, currency and trading time. The world's largest asset class that has not yet been tokenized is assets from the rest of the world, and our cooperation with GTN is to change this."

GTN provides infrastructure covering more than 90 markets

GTN will connect xStocks to its global execution and hosting network through a single infrastructure layer. This arrangement allows Payward to enter international markets without building a separate traditional financial system for each country.

Ankit Shah, global head of financial technology at GTN, said financial institutions want to enter new markets without having to rebuild their technology systems for each expansion. He pointed out that GTN's infrastructure is capable of supporting Payward's operations in more than 90 markets while providing the sub-account system required for tokenized products.

The two parties said cooperation has begun, but GTN still needs to obtain regulatory approval before distributing xStocks to its institutional customers. Payward also revealed that expanded assets could be traded through more than 100 exchanges, wallets and decentralized financial applications that already support the xStocks ecosystem.

This international expansion comes at a time when tokenized stock trading activity continues to heat up. According to reports, in the most recent month, the transfer amount of tokenized shares reached US$8.41 billion, and the distribution value climbed to approximately US$2.16 billion. xStocks was at the forefront of the field at the time.

Payward expands xStocks beyond underlying equity exposure

Payward said xStocks currently covers more than 500 tokenized assets, including stocks, ETFs and IPO-related products. The company reported that global cumulative transaction volume exceeded US$37 billion, with nearly 200,000 holders. Each xStock is backed 1:1 by underlying securities.

In 2026, the platform will also add more uses for tokenized stocks. Kraken has reportedly begun allowing eligible customers to use some xStocks as collateral for futures and margin positions. This change allows qualified traders to both maintain exposure to tokenized stocks and use these assets to support other positions.

Payward also introduced xStocks into the IPO space. In June this year, it was reported that eligible Kraken users and xStocks Alliance members could register to participate in U.S. IPO placements and receive tokenized shares after listing.

The company agreed to acquire Backed Finance in December 2025 and complete the transaction in January 2026, thereby strengthening its control over xStocks related technology.

Competition for tokenized stocks continues to escalate

Payward's international expansion comes as more cryptocurrency companies and traditional market companies compete for the tokenized stock space. Platforms such as Ondo, Robinhood, Coinbase, and Backpack have all launched their own products, and exchanges and clearing houses are also testing blockchain-based securities infrastructure.

Competition has reportedly extended to different models of listing public shares. Some products offer tokens backed by securities held by custodians, while other projects aim to issue or record the securities themselves directly through a regulated blockchain system.

Regulatory issues remain part of the expansion. The U.S. Securities Transfer Organization has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to clearly distinguish between issuer backed tokenized securities and products created by third parties.

Payward and GTN will focus on obtaining the necessary approvals to expand xStocks into more markets. As the first step in the plan, Hong Kong will be extended to other major financial regions. The partnership also provides Payward with the infrastructure to support tokenized assets other than stocks as the platform expands its international product line.