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Yahoo
15 hours ago
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Nvidia, Tesla Stocks on Tron: xStocks Expand After Hitting Trading Milestone
Tokenized versions of Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, and other major stocks are now available for trading on the Tron network thanks to a collaboration between the Tron DAO, Kraken, and Backed—the firm behind xStocks, which offers global investors access to tokenized equities. The feature's expansion comes shortly after xStocks eclipsed more than $500 million in on-chain trading volume to date, according to data from its official Dune dashboard. "Expanding xStocks to Tron, a network that settles over $20 billion daily, will significantly boost brand visibility and adoption," Kraken Global Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg told Decrypt. "More importantly, it brings us closer to a fully permissionless, borderless, and interoperable market where anyone can trade tokenized equities around the clock." Backed's xStocks feature allows users to gain exposure to American equities via on-chain tokens that are 1:1 backed with actual shares in each respective company. Previously available to users on Solana and BNB Chain, and offered via centralized exchanges like Kraken, these tokens will now be available via TRC-20 tokens on Tron. 'This collaboration highlights how Tron's decentralized network can bring tokenized equities into a more open, transparent, and accessible environment,' said Tron founder Justin Sun, in a statement. 'Tokenized equities represent a natural evolution for crypto, bridging traditional markets with blockchain,' he added. 'As demand for popular equities meets a global base of previously excluded users, we'll see a more efficient, flexible, and accessible market.' You Can Now Trade Stocks Like NVDA and MSTR on Solana: Here's How It Works To date, the network is arguably best known for its substantial stablecoin usage, which has grown by about $23 billion in the last year according to data from DefiLlama. The network holds $82.8 billion in stablecoins—primarily Tether's USDT—trailing only Ethereum, which maintains $143 billion in stablecoins at the time of writing. xStocks have generated more than $2.9 billion in volume between centralized exchanges and their decentralized counterparts, though the split falls heavily in favor of centralized exchanges which have accounted for more than 95% of the volume according to the official xStocks Dune dashboard. Over $500 million of that trading has taken place on-chain, per the dashboard. The tokenized equities currently account for around $46.4 million in assets under management, more than 20% of which can be attributed to tokenized shares in Elon Musk's Tesla (TSLA). Bitcoin Giant Strategy and Coinbase Lead Crypto Stock Slump As for bigger goals, Backed is focused on continuing to expand its xStocks product offering. "Our priority is expanding the xStocks Alliance—bringing more partners, blockchains, and applications onboard as we deliver the gold standard in tokenized equities offerings," Greenberg said. "That's where the real growth happens." More features, chain integrations, and new offerings are expected in the coming weeks, he added. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kraken exec says tokenized stocks will let you ‘buy coffee with Tesla'
Kraken exec says tokenized stocks will let you 'buy coffee with Tesla' originally appeared on TheStreet. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is taking a big swing at the emerging market for tokenized equities, launching a product it calls xStocks — 24/7, permissionless, and non-custodial tokenized stocks available worldwide. 'First, so xStocks are tokenized stocks. They're 24-7, non-custodial, permissionless, available anywhere. And we've launched a few months ago the first 60 of them, offering them on the Kraken platform through much of the world and hopefully in Europe soon,' said Mark Greenberg, Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Product and Business at Kraken in a conversation with Scott Melker on The Street Roundtable. Currently, the product is available in Kraken's 'rest of world' markets, spanning Latin America, most of Asia, and the Middle East. 'Over time, we hope to offer them, as I said, in Europe as well. We'll hopefully be able to do that in the next few weeks,' Greenberg appeal is clear for markets with limited equity access. 'Even as a Canadian, I don't have a lot of access to certain equity. So I was trying to buy an equity adjunct in Europe the other day and turns out actually my broker doesn't even allow that. What we're planning to do here with xStocks is allow folks around the world to buy stocks in everything… not everybody can buy especially fractional components of that if they only have say 10 or 20 dollars that they want to put into something like Tesla.' The infrastructure is fully backed. 'The stocks are held one to one backed in a SPV, a special purpose vehicle in Jersey. And then they are… minted into tokens through a prospectus in Europe and then offered. And so basically every time you mint one of these tokens, a share is bought and then those tokens can be sold, bought or sold on Kraken or on Dex's or on lots of other exchanges.' Greenberg contrasted Kraken's approach with more limited tokenized offerings from big institutions. 'A lot of these early things, right? Like you could only buy and sell it back to the issuer… You couldn't even send it to yourself somewhere else… that's actually what we were trying to avoid… And for sure, xStocks, I think, is at the forefront of that.' Kraken also plans to integrate tokenized stocks with traditional equities and everyday spending. 'Soon we're going to be launching a card in Europe and the UK… if you want to hold your… money in Tesla… you can absolutely do that. And then you can buy your coffee with it… you can do that with Tesla or Fartcoin or USDC.' The card launch, Greenberg added, is 'hoping just a few weeks away, actually for our launch in Europe.' Tokenized market surges As per a data tracker for tokenized real-world assets, the market for tokenized stocks is showing steady growth. The sector's total value currently stands at $391.70 million, up 0.30% from 30 days ago. Monthly transfer volume has surged 34.01% to $314.69 million, indicating heightened trading activity. The number of monthly active addresses is 53,194, up 1.57%, while the total number of holders has climbed 14.90% to 61,160, signaling expanding adoption across global markets. The largest tokenized equity by value is EXOD (Exodus Movement Inc. Class A), issued via Securitize on the Algorand network, with a market value of $281.6 million and an 83.72% share of the tracked total. Other notable assets include TSLAx (Tesla Inc.) on Solana with $9.93 million in value, up 102.9% over the past month, and MSTRx (MicroStrategy Inc.) at $4.26 million, up 56.53%. Traditional market heavyweights like SPYx (S&P 500 ETF), NVDAx (NVIDIA Corp), and AAPLx (Apple Inc.) also feature prominently, reflecting investor interest in blue-chip tokenized equities. Kraken exec says tokenized stocks will let you 'buy coffee with Tesla' first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 8, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 8, 2025, where it first appeared. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kraken Launches Crypto's Attempt at a Venmo-Killer
Kraken's rising from the decentralized deep to capsize a big ship: traditional finance. The crypto platform launched a peer-to-peer payments app yesterday that lets users instantly send 300+ crypto tokens, stablecoins and fiat currencies to friends and family in more than 100 countries. Anyone who has had to split a check with new hostel friends knows that rivals Venmo and Zelle only support payments between US users. Kraken's app, called Krak, also doesn't charge fees for cross-border payments or transfers from one currency to another, setting it apart from PayPal. Kraken's app is meant to serve as an entry point to digital assets for the crypto-cautious, with rewards of up to 10% on Krak account balances to entice new users. Krak is also part of Kraken's push into traditional finance to diversify revenue ahead of a planned IPO. READ ALSO: Dwindling IPOs Reward Investors With Return Bonanza and After Reclaiming 'World's Most Valuable Company' Crown, Nvidia Gilds the Tiara Those are the words of Kraken exec Mark Greenberg as Kraken and other crypto companies try to put their blockchain-backed spins on traditional finance: Kraken debuted tokens that represent US equities for non-US users, letting them trade representations of stocks like Nvidia and Tesla over the blockchain. It also bought futures-trading platform NinjaTrader this spring for $1.5 billion. Crypto exchange Coinbase teamed up with Shopify to launch a payments platform (creatively named Coinbase Payments) that lets merchants accept payments using the stablecoin USDC. The issuer of USDC, Circle, also introduced a cross-border payments network this spring. At the same time, TradFi isn't going down without a fight: JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are reportedly exploring the creation of a joint stablecoin, and brokerages like Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab are working on adding crypto trading. Hot Coin Summer: The line between traditional and digital finance has grown blurry in the Trump era as regulatory actions against crypto companies have eased. In March, the SEC dropped a lawsuit accusing Kraken of operating an unregistered securities exchange, following the agency's abandonment of a similar suit against rival Coinbase. Both sides of the finance world have read the new room and aren't missing the opportunity to try to eat each other's lunch. This post first appeared on The Daily Upside. To receive delivering razor sharp analysis and perspective on all things finance, economics, and markets, subscribe to our free The Daily Upside newsletter. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
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Crypto Exchange Kraken Unveils ‘Krak,' Its New All-in-One Global Money App
Cryptocurrency exchange giant Kraken introduced a blockchain-powered global money app called Krak that allows users to instantly transact across borders for almost no cost, while also earning competitive rewards on their account balances. Krak is designed to fix the outdated norms of legacy finance, Kraken said, blending crypto technology with the exchange's trusted network of banking relationships and payment partnerships. The app will allow users to send funds peer-to-peer across 110 countries and using 300-plus assets, spanning cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and fiat currencies without inserting bank details or crypto wallet addresses, according to a press release. As the U.S. opens up more to crypto, big exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken are busy closing gaps in their customer offerings, whether that's taking advantage of crypto rails for payments, earning yield or trading stocks. The Krak app will also offer dedicated spend and earn accounts, where eligible users can earn up to 4.1% rewards on USDG stablecoin balances as well as additional opportunities across 20+ digital assets yielding up to 10%. USDG is the dollar-pegged token of the Global Dollar Network, of which Kraken is a key member. 'Look, banking sucks; maybe that's the simplest way to say it,' Mark Greenberg, Kraken's global head of consumer product said, in an interview. 'I spent my whole career in banking and tried many different ways over the years to try to make it better. But it's still too hard to move money, to send it, to share it, to spend it, to move it across borders, to earn off of it in a reasonable way. And crypto has always been a big part of the answer.'
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Exchange Kraken Adds Bitcoin Staking Via Babylon as BTC Driven DeFi Picks Up
Crypto exchange Kraken has launched bitcoin BTC staking through a new integration with Babylon, as decentralized finance on BTC picks up. Babylon is a Bitcoin-native protocol that enables BTC to secure proof-of-stake (PoS) networks without leaving the blockchain. The service allows Kraken users to stake their bitcoin directly, locking it in a custodial vault on the native chain. The staked bitcoin is then delegated to PoS networks via Babylon, and rewards are paid in BABY, the token of Babylon Genesis, a bitcoin-secured Layer 1, Kraken said. Bitcoin has historically been used as a store of value and a medium of exchange. The advent of novel security sharing protocols has made BTC staking a third native use case, bitcoin DeFi, for the world's largest cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin network is "evolving into a broader decentralized finance ecosystem with the emergence of Bitcoin DeFi," Binance Research said in a report in March. Only ~0.8% of the bitcoin supply is currently being used in DeFi, and this presents a large "untapped opportunity," the report said. Binance, the competing crypto exchange of Kraken, also offers a bitcoin staking opportunity on its platform through Babylon. 'With this launch, clients can earn a return on their BTC while also enabling emerging PoS blockchains to benefit from the economic weight of bitcoin in order to validate transactions and bolster the security of their networks,' said Kraken's Global Head of Consumer, Mark Greenberg, in the release. The mechanism is fully on-chain, with staking governed by Bitcoin scripts and cryptographic safeguards to deter malicious behavior. Users can unstake at any time, with around a 7-day unbonding period. The crypto exchange first introduced custodial staking in 2019. The bitcoin staking feature is now available across all Kraken platforms.
