Kraken Acquires Backed Finance to Accelerate Tokenized Stock Expansion

Kraken just bought its ticket to the traditional finance party—and it's bringing tokenization as its plus-one.

The crypto exchange's acquisition of Backed Finance, a Swiss issuer of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), signals a direct assault on the old guard. This isn't about building a parallel system anymore; it's about digitizing the existing one, stock certificate by stock certificate.

Why This Move Cuts Through the Noise

Forget vague promises of future integration. Kraken snagged a regulated entity with a live product. Backed's tokens, representing shares in giants like Tesla and Apple, already trade on-chain. Kraken bypasses years of regulatory groundwork and instantly plugs into a functioning pipeline for tokenized stocks and ETFs.

The play is clear: capture the investor who wants Nasdaq exposure but craves crypto's 24/7 markets and self-custody. It turns a crypto exchange into a gateway for *all* assets, blurring the line until it disappears.

The Real Target Isn't Crypto Twitter

This acquisition targets the quiet money—the institutional and accredited investors watching from the sidelines. Offering tokenized blue-chip stocks provides a familiar on-ramp. It's a Trojan horse strategy: get them in the door with Tesla, then show them the rest of the digital asset zoo.

For the crypto-native, it's a bullish signal of infrastructure maturation. For traditional finance, it's a warning shot. The plumbing for a fully digitized global market is being laid, and the old exchanges aren't the ones holding the wrench.

A Cynical Footnote for the Finance Bros

Let's be real—the traditional system loves its inefficiencies. Those settlement delays, intermediary fees, and opaque processes aren't bugs; they're revenue streams for a sprawling ecosystem of middlemen. Tokenization threatens to vaporize that lucrative friction, which is precisely why it faces such fierce, well-funded resistance from the very institutions that pay lip service to 'innovation.'

Kraken's move proves the endgame isn't just a new asset class. It's a new market structure. The race to tokenize everything isn't coming; it's already here, and the first major exchange just grabbed a massive head start.

Kraken has agreed to acquire Backed Finance, the issuer behind xStocks tokenized equities, as the cryptocurrency exchange deepens its push into real-world asset tokenization, the company announced Tuesday in a blog post.

The acquisition will bring Backed's team and infrastructure fully into Kraken's ecosystem, unifying issuance, trading, and settlement of tokenized stocks under one platform. xStocks has surpassed $10 billion in combined exchange and onchain trading volume within six months of its 2025 debut, the exchange said.

"Integrating Backed into Kraken strengthens the Core architecture required for open and programmable capital markets," said Arjun Sethi, Kraken co-CEO. "This is bigger than giving people exposure to U.S. equities, it's about redefining what it means to own assets in the digital era."

Founded in 2021, Backed Finance built a regulated solution for issuing blockchain-based tokens representing traditional securities. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal positions Kraken to expand tokenized equities and other real-world assets globally as major financial institutions increasingly explore blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.

xStocks currently offers exposure to more than 60 tokenized equities and ETFs backed 1:1 by underlying assets. The tokens are live on solana and Ethereum, with integrations on TON, Tron, Mantle, and BNB Chain planned.

Investors can trade xStocks 24 hours a day, five days a week on Kraken's exchange, or directly onchain around the clock. The tokens are designed for self-custody and multi-chain composability, allowing use across decentralized finance protocols.

"Backed's rise to becoming the industry standard for tokenized equities is a testament to unwavering focus, efficiency, and execution," said Adam Levi, Backed co-founder. "Today, with Kraken's scale elevating that vision, we can accelerate the expansion of infrastructure designed to democratize financial access across the world."

Kraken plans to integrate xStocks more deeply into its product suite, including Krak, its global money app, allowing customers to hold and spend tokenized equities. The acquisition provides Backed with capital and resources to scale faster amid growing institutional demand for tokenized securities.

The deal builds on Kraken's recent strategic acquisitions including Breakout, Small Exchange, and NinjaTrader as the exchange constructs vertically integrated infrastructure covering matching, custody, clearing, settlement, market data, and wallet services.

Through the xStocks Alliance, Kraken and Backed have built an ecosystem of partners spanning blockchain foundations, trading venues, and consumer applications. The companies plan to expand this network to enhance interoperability and liquidity for tokenized equities across the industry.