London Stock Exchange Joins Forces With Kraken Parent Payward to Tokenize 100 UK Blue Chips on xStocks
London Stock Exchange Joins Forces With Kraken Parent Payward to Tokenize 100 UK Blue Chips on xStocks #
The London Stock Exchange has announced a collaboration with Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, to bring tokenized versions of the 100 largest LSE-listed companies to the blockchain through Payward’s xStocks equities framework, the two firms announced on Tuesday.
According to the joint announcement, the xStocks, one-to-one-backed representations of the underlying securities, are expected to become available to eligible investors within weeks of launch, opening access across more than 110 countries. UK-based investors will not be included in the initial rollout, however; the xStocks platform currently remains unavailable in the domestic market.
The xStocks model allows tokenized shares to trade continuously around the clock on centralized exchanges, in self-custody wallets, and across onchain applications, in contrast to conventional equity markets, which operate within fixed exchange and settlement schedules. Payward said no specific company names, token tickers, or exact launch date have yet been confirmed for the UK cohort.
Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE plans to list xStocks and support their trading on LSE 24, its newly announced near-continuous trading venue, with coverage eventually intended to span tokenized equities from the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong, alongside additional asset classes. Bloomberg reported that the tokens are set to launch next year pending that regulatory clearance. The LSE had previously indicated in July that client testing on LSE 24 would begin before the close of 2026, with exchange-traded products targeted for the first half of 2027 and equities potentially following on a later timeline.
The two companies have also agreed to explore natively LSE-issued equity tokens, instruments that exchange members would issue and service directly onchain, designed to carry full fungibility and the same shareholder rights as conventional shares, going beyond the current xStocks custody-backed structure.
Since launching, xStocks has recorded more than $40 billion in cumulative trading volume in just over a year, with nearly $20 billion settled onchain and a holder base now exceeding 200,000 customers, according to Payward.
The LSE deal extends Payward’s broader push into regulated market infrastructure. In February, five xStocks began trading on Deutsche Börse Group’s 360X platform against stablecoins on a regulated secondary venue. The Nasdaq has pursued a parallel track in the US market, having received SEC approval for a tokenized securities pilot in which digital and conventional formats share a common ticker, order book, and shareholder rights.
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