Kraken’s On-Chain Trading Goes Global—But US Customers Left in the Cold

Kraken just flipped the switch on-chain for international traders—while America watches from the sidelines. Again.

The Irony of 'Decentralization'

Another day, another crypto innovation that bypasses the world's largest economy. Regulatory purgatory strikes again.

What's Actually Live

Direct on-chain settlements. No intermediaries. The way crypto was meant to be traded—unless you're in the land of 'free markets.'

The Finance Jab

Wall Street still thinks 'blockchain' is a type of Excel formula. Maybe by 2030 they'll catch up to what the rest of the planet is doing today.

Tokenized equities still wait for regulatory clearance in the US

Kraken and Coinbase already offer various forms of tokenized shares. Previously, smaller exchanges have offered stock trading, as tokenization has always been easy. 

However, those platforms still lack the permission to become official stock brokers for the US market. The relatively small platform Dinari is the first to secure a stock-trading license for its already circulating tokenized stocks on the Base chain. 

Gemini has also become a source of tokenized equities, with access for EU clients. However, Gemini retains a limited offering, tokenizing only Strategy (MSTR). Earlier this week, Ondo Finance also predicted the rest of the year WOULD see more cases of stock tokenization, following the recent trend to offer mostly tokenized T-bills.  

Kraken may jump-start stock tokenization

Kraken’s offer is currently one of the widest on the market. Platforms are generally cautious when tokenizing shares, due to potential regulatory limitations. 

Globally, only around $651M in shares have been tokenized, lagging behind tokenized debt, bonds and even commodities. There is also no general standard on stock tokenization, with offers ranging from special tokens to common crypto assets only bearing the name of the stock. 

XStocks are backed 1:1 by the underlying asset, and can be transferred online. However, the Solana-based tokens themselves do not bring the same rights as ownership of the official shares. 

XStocks owners cannot vote or receive a dividend, essentially making the token issuer the official owner. However, for the purposes of globalized trading and investment, XStocks offers exposure to multiple US equities without additional regulatory burdens. 

Kraken and other tokenized stock issuers are tapping the trend of demand for US equities. The expansion of the tech sector, AI, and general economic recovery have driven international buyers to US shares. 

Foreign direct investments in US equities retained a long-running expansion trend for the past three years, based on demand for assets to compensate for inflation.

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