Payward Partners with GTN to Expand xStocks to Global Markets

Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has announced a strategic partnership with global fintech firm GTN to expand its xStocks platform beyond U.S. markets. Currently, xStocks operate only with U.S. equities and are available exclusively for non-U.S. investors. This new initiative plans to extend the xStocks offering to include equities from Hong Kong, the UK, Europe, and South Korea.

Each xStock represents a share in a real company and is backed one-to-one, offered through a blockchain-based system. The collaboration with GTN will leverage their execution, custody, and record-keeping functionalities, providing the necessary infrastructure to implement this expansion. According to Ankit Shah, GTN’s Global Head of FinTech, the aim is to enable financial institutions to venture into new asset classes without overhauling their existing technological frameworks. Shah states, "Our infrastructure lets partners like Payward launch quickly across 90+ markets and a full range of instruments, and it includes the sub-accounting technology Kraken needs to offer tokenised products."

This development positions xStocks to directly compete with offerings from Robinhood Chain, Coinbase’s future tokenized equities, and Nasdaq’s tokenized equities gateway. The partnership aims to start with equities listed in Hong Kong before branching into U.K., European, and South Korean markets. The plan also anticipates tokenizing asset classes beyond equities, pending regulatory approvals in respective jurisdictions.

xStocks was introduced in June 2025, initially limited to U.S. stocks and ETFs. Since launch, the platform has expanded to include over 500 tokenized assets while processing over $35 billion in transaction volume. However, these offerings remain unavailable to U.S. residents.

The expanded reach seeks to tap into a growing market for tokenized stocks, which has garnered increasing interest within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Investors and institutions looking for innovative investment avenues may find the new developments in tokenization particularly appealing, paving the way for broader acceptance and adoption of blockchain technology in traditional equity markets.