Kraken partners with Backed to expand tokenized stock services to the Tron blockchain.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken and tokenization platform Backed Finance announced on Wednesday (8/20) that they will expand their tokenized stock product xStocks to the Tron blockchain. This collaboration is facilitated by TRON DAO, allowing investors to trade major U.S. stocks like Tesla, Nvidia, and Apple through TRC-20 tokens. This service was initially launched on Solana at the end of June and later expanded to BNB Chain, with Tron becoming the third supported blockchain network.
Related reading: 24/7 trading! Kraken will launch tokenized U.S. stocks; how are they different from regular stocks?
According to official data, xStocks has accumulated over $2.9 billion in total trading volume across centralized exchanges (CEX) and decentralized exchanges (DEX) since its launch, with on-chain trading volume exceeding $540 million.
Source: Dunex Stocks has accumulated over $2.9 billion in trading volume since its launch.
Mark Greenberg, Global Consumer Business Head at Kraken, stated: "Expanding xStocks functionality to the Tron network, which has a daily trading volume exceeding $20 billion, will significantly enhance brand awareness and adoption, more importantly, bring us closer to a completely permissionless, borderless, and interoperable market."
Tron founder: Tokenized stocks represent the natural evolution of cryptocurrency.
Tron founder Justin Sun pointed out in a statement that this collaboration highlights how Tron’s decentralized network is bringing tokenized stocks into a more open, transparent, and accessible environment.
He stated: "Tokenized stocks represent the natural evolution of cryptocurrency, connecting traditional markets with blockchain technology. When the demand for popular stocks combines with a user base that was previously excluded globally, we will see a more efficient, flexible, and accessible market."
xStocks allows users to gain exposure to U.S. stocks through on-chain tokens backed 1:1 by actual shares, offering features such as 24/7 trading, fractional investments, and DeFi protocol integration. The service has been integrated with protocols such as Kamino, Raydium, and Jupiter on Solana, as well as PancakeSwap and Venus Protocol on BNB Chain. Notably, these tokenized stocks are designed as debt instruments under regulatory compliance, meaning holders cannot exercise traditional shareholder rights such as governance voting.
The RWA tokenized market is growing rapidly, with increasing institutional confidence.
Tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) has become a significant trend in the cryptocurrency industry for 2025, with increasing institutional acceptance of placing assets like U.S. Treasury bonds, private credit, and stocks on the blockchain. According to RWA.xyz data, the RWA tokenized market size has grown from $15.6 billion on January 1, 2025, to $26.4 billion as of last Tuesday.
Source: RWA.xyz The RWA tokenized market has reached a scale of $26.4 billion.
Binance's research report points out that tokenized stocks are approaching a 'critical turning point', with growth rates similar to the early development of decentralized finance.
TRON DAO representatives stated to Cointelegraph: "The enthusiasm for the RWA industry better illustrates the growing confidence institutions have in the practicality of first-layer blockchain networks like Tron. As institutional blockchain continues to develop, we plan to focus on building the infrastructure needed to support long-term adoption and real-world financial applications." According to DefiLlama data, the total value locked (TVL) in the Tron blockchain currently stands at $6.223 billion, ranking fifth among all blockchains.
Source: DefiLlama
Multi-chain expansion strategies accelerate, fierce competition drives innovation.
Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi emphasized the importance of rapid expansion: "Expanding xStocks functionality to three blockchains in less than 60 days demonstrates the possibilities of being designed for openness from the start."
Backed will deploy xStocks on Tron as a TRC-20 token, maintaining full 1:1 backing for each tokenized asset. In the coming weeks, users will be able to access and withdraw xStocks directly through the Tron ecosystem.
Currently, tokenized stocks manage assets of approximately $46.4 million, with over 20% coming from Tesla tokenized shares. Greenberg stated that Backed's priority is to expand the xStocks alliance: "Bringing in more partners, blockchains, and applications to provide the gold standard for tokenized stock products."
As Coinbase's Base network recently surpassed Tron in DeFi rankings with $6.6 billion in total locked value, competition among ecosystems is intensifying, driving continuous innovation in the entire industry.
‘Kraken continues to lay the groundwork, xStocks supports Tron, and Tesla and Apple stocks are available!’ This article was first published in ‘Crypto City’
