We are pleased to announce that we have agreed to acquire Backed Finance AG, the company driving the issuance of xStocks, the leading industry standard for tokenized stocks. This acquisition will accelerate xStocks’ global adoption. Integrating issuance, trading, and settlement to power an open capital markets infrastructure that is available to everyone.
xStocks has seen extraordinary adoption since its debut in early 2025, with combined exchange and on-chain trading volume exceeding $10 billion within six months. This acquisition will give Backed access to the capital and resources needed to scale faster and take advantage of the rapid adoption of tokenized equities and growing institutional investor demand.
Fully incorporating Backed into our ecosystem will also allow us to better align our strategy and investment priorities to maximize the economic potential of xStocks.
Kraken and Backed will work together to accelerate the expansion of xStocks, bringing tokenized stocks to new markets and extending its reach into everyday financial experiences. This acquisition lays the foundation for future innovation in tokenized assets beyond stocks and advances the company’s leadership in building open and interoperable financial infrastructure.
xStocks currently offers exposure to over 60 tokenized stocks and ETFs that are backed 1:1 by the underlying assets. The token is powered by Solana and Ethereum, with integrations with TON, Tron, Mantle, and BNB Chain coming soon.
Investors can trade on Kraken 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, or directly on-chain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, creating a seamless and continuous bridge between traditional and crypto markets. xStocks is self-storageable and designed with multi-chain configurability in mind, keeping the infrastructure open and usable across the broader ecosystem.
Through the xStocks Alliance, Kraken and Backed have built a thriving ecosystem of partners across blockchain infrastructure, trading venues, and consumer applications. With this acquisition, we plan to further expand this ecosystem and strengthen the interoperability and liquidity of tokenized stocks across the industry.
Arjun Sethi, Kraken Co-CEO: “Integrating Backed with Kraken strengthens the core architecture needed for open and programmable capital markets. By unifying issuance, trading, and settlement under one framework, the infrastructure for tokenized assets is transparent. This is fundamental work for the next generation of market structures. This is about more than giving people exposure to U.S. stocks, it’s about redefining what it means to own assets in the digital age.”
Backed’s team and infrastructure will become part of Kraken, expanding its issuance and compliance capabilities while expanding the reach and utility of tokenized assets beyond the crypto ecosystem. Kraken plans to integrate xStocks more deeply into its broader product suite, including Krak, the company’s global money app, allowing customers to hold and spend tokenized stocks.
Adam Levy, Supported Co-Founder: “Backed’s growth into the industry standard for tokenized equities is a testament to our unwavering focus, efficiency, and execution. Founded in 2021, our team has built a compliant, scalable solution that seamlessly bridges cryptocurrency and traditional finance. Now, Kraken’s scale fuels that vision, allowing us to accelerate the expansion of our infrastructure designed to democratize financial access around the world.”
Backed’s acquisition builds on its recent strategic expansion through acquisitions such as Breakout, Small Exchange, and NinjaTrader.
Our vertically integrated architecture, covering exchange matching, custody, clearing, settlement, market data and wallet services, allows us to quickly deploy new asset classes and features while maintaining industry-leading security and stringent regulation. With this structure in place, we are uniquely positioned to scale tokenized stocks and other real-world assets around the world on open, interoperable rails.
This combination represents a decisive step in our strategy to bring real-world assets on-chain and make capital markets available to everyone, everywhere.
xStocks is not registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws. xStocks are not available in the United States or to United States Persons, and may not be offered, sold, or shipped, directly or indirectly, to the United States or United States Persons. This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy xStocks in any jurisdiction in which such offering or sale is not permitted.
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