CoinWorld news, the decentralized lending protocol Kamino based on Solana is integrating tokenized stocks as a collateral option. The tool it selected, the on-chain trading feature xStocks, is also used by centralized exchanges such as Kraken and Bybit, supported by data standards from Chainlink. "With this integration, Kamino becomes the first major lending protocol in DeFi to use tokenized stocks as collateral, marking an important milestone for DeFi," the team wrote in a Friday announcement. According to the announcement, the Kamino v2 architecture includes a new xStocks market designed to allow users to borrow stablecoins against xStocks collateral. This feature will initially launch with the tokenized representation of Apple stock, AAPLx, and will gradually expand. "Ultimately, our vision is for Kamino to become a full suite on-chain asset market where users can exchange assets, borrow against assets, or use margin to amplify exposure," the team wrote. "The permissionless financial rails are maturing and beginning to cover TradFi use cases in a more efficient, accessible, and transparent manner." In recent weeks, several companies have made significant announcements regarding the on-chain representation of tokenized stocks or shares of public or private companies. This includes Kraken, which announced that it would provide the ability to trade xStocks on Solana for EU customers, and Robinhood, which is building an internal solution for private stocks on the Ethereum scaling layer Arbitrum. For a long time, tokenized stocks have been seen as the holy grail of the emerging real-world asset economy. Progress has been hindered to some extent by regulatory issues and the need for corporate support. For example, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is generally a proponent of cryptocurrencies, doused cold water on this trend in a recent letter, stating that "tokenized securities are still securities." Meanwhile, OpenAI criticized Robinhood's "stock tokens," claiming they do not recognize or approve any transfers, prompting Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev to clarify that these on-chain tokens are derivatives, not actual equity. xStocks, launched by Backed Finance, are tokenized representations of U.S. stocks and ETFs, issued in the form of SPL tokens on the Solana blockchain and BEP-20 tokens on the BNB Chain. Each xStock (e.g., xAAPL or xTSLA) is backed 1:1 by real stocks held by a custodian. Putting these asset representations on-chain enables 24/7 trading and features like fractional ownership. Backed stated in a previous blog, "In addition to direct retail availability, integrating xStocks into lending protocols can elevate them as building blocks for new structured products, combined with other protocols, allowing for the creation of complex financial instruments." DEXs based on Solana, such as Jupiter and Raydium, provide lending and liquidity supply. Kamino Finance is the largest money market on Solana, serving as a decentralized liquidity management, lending, and leverage protocol with a total value locked of nearly $3 billion. According to The Block, Kamino launched its "intention-based" swap feature in December. Its products are not available in the U.S., U.K., and other restricted markets. [The Block]

#ETF #BNB