The London Stock Exchange and Payward, Kraken’s owner, will bring the 100 largest London-listed companies on-chain through tokenized shares. The xStocks products will reach eligible investors in more than 110 countries, while UK residents will remain excluded. The firms announced the partnership on September 1 and expect the first shares to arrive over the coming weeks.
Each xStock will track an underlying London-listed share on a one-to-one basis. Investors can trade the tokens around the clock on centralized exchanges, self-custody wallets and on-chain applications.
Payward said the xStocks framework has already generated more than $40 billion in total trading volume. Nearly $20 billion settled on-chain, while the products have attracted more than 200,000 holders.
The new agreement extends that model to major UK-listed companies. It also gives those issuers another distribution channel across markets where investors can access xStocks.
Traditional shares usually trade during exchange hours and move through established clearing and settlement systems. By contrast, xStocks can move into self-custody wallets while following the price of the underlying security.
That structure widens access to UK-listed equities through blockchain rails. The first London-listed xStocks will appear on Kraken and other platforms within the xStocks Alliance.
What could change when major UK-listed shares become available through blockchain markets around the clock? The partnership places that question within a broader shift toward tokenized equities, bonds and commodities.
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Subject to regulatory approval, the London Stock Exchange plans to list xStocks on LSE 24 from 2027. The planned 24-hour venue aims to support tokenized equities from the US, EU, UK and Hong Kong. The exchange is also assessing how its digital securities depository could support settlement. In parallel, LSE and Payward plan to explore equity tokens issued natively by the exchange.
Those tokens could let members issue and service shares on-chain while preserving the same rights and full fungibility as traditional stock. LSE chief executive Julia Hoggett said tokenization must preserve trust, investor rights and regulated markets.
The xStocks framework runs on Solana. SOL traded at $101.87 on September 1, down 0.8% over 24 hours, with a market value near $59.6 billion, according to CoinPaprika.
Crypto commentators also reacted to the announcement on X. Quinten Francois linked the move to broader efforts toward 24-hour blockchain markets, while Arkane described tokenized stocks as a major blockchain use case. Bilal bin Saqib framed the development as part of a wider change in financial infrastructure. He argued that blockchain is beginning to alter how the existing financial system distributes assets.
The LSE and Payward partnership will extend xStocks to 100 major London-listed companies across more than 110 countries. Meanwhile, LSE plans further tokenized trading through LSE 24 from 2027, subject to approval. The initiative also opens work on blockchain settlement and natively issued equity tokens.