BNB Chain Teams Up with Kraken & Backed to Disrupt TradFi with Onchain Tokenized Equities

Wall Street's worst nightmare just got a blockchain upgrade.

BNB Chain—the powerhouse behind Binance's ecosystem—has joined forces with crypto giant Kraken and institutional tokenization platform Backed to bring traditional equities onchain. No more waiting T+2 settlements or praying your broker doesn't GameStop your orders.

The TradFi Trojan Horse

This partnership marks the first major push to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) at scale on BNB Chain. Think Apple, Tesla, and SPY shares—but tradeable 24/7 with DeFi-level transparency. Kraken brings the liquidity, Backed handles the regulatory heavy lifting, and BNB Chain provides the rails.

Why This Burns the Financial Middlemen

Tokenized equities could gut traditional custodians and prime brokers. Instant settlement? Check. Fractional ownership? Obviously. Built-in compliance? Backed's specialty. The only thing missing—the 300-page prospectus nobody reads anyway.

Cynic's Corner: Let's see how long until the SEC starts hyperventilating about 'unregistered securities' while ignoring the actual fraud happening in dark pools.

BNB Chain has announced a partnership with Kraken and Backed to launch tokenized equities, allowing users to trade popular stocks such as AAPLx, TSLAx, NVDAx, and SPYx as BEP-20 tokens. These tokens, representing U.S. equities, will be accessible within the BNB Chain ecosystem, facilitating integration with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and enabling round-the-clock trading, according to BNB Chain.

What to Expect

In the upcoming weeks, eligible users in supported jurisdictions will be able to deposit and withdraw these tokenized assets via BNB Chain. Developed by Backed and supported by Kraken, these xStocks will be tradable on PancakeSwap and integrated into various DeFi products, allowing users to leverage their assets in lending, yield, and structured products.

Why It Matters

The introduction of tokenized equities on BNB Chain offers significant advantages for traders and investors. Users can enjoy instant 24/7 access to financial markets without traditional gatekeepers, and utilize these tokenized stocks in DeFi applications similar to cryptocurrencies.

Why BNB Chain

BNB Chain was selected for this initiative due to its low transaction fees, high throughput, and fast transaction finality. It already dominates in stablecoin activity and tokenized asset volume, making the addition of equities a natural progression.

Industry Perspectives

Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi commented on the partnership, highlighting that the future of capital markets will be chain-neutral and multichain by design. He emphasized that tokenized equities represent a foundational upgrade to the financial system. Adam Levi, co-founder of Backed, noted that integrating tokenized equities into DeFi will surpass the scale and utility of stablecoins, with BNB Chain's global reach being instrumental in achieving this vision.

Sarah S, Head of Business Development at BNB Chain, expressed that tokenizing real-world assets on BNB Chain aims to make global finance more accessible and transparent, reflecting the chain's commitment to bridging traditional and decentralized finance.

Future Developments

The rollout of these tokenized equities is expected soon, offering a new class of assets designed to seamlessly operate across DeFi platforms. This development signals a shift in market dynamics, providing new opportunities for builders and traders within the DeFi space.

• bnb chain
• kraken
• tokenized equities
• defi