Kraken and Backed Expand Tokenized Stocks to BNB Chain as RWA Momentum Accelerates

Crypto exchange Kraken and tokenized asset issuer Backed Finance are bringing tokenized equities to the BNB Chain (BNB), allowing trading with stocks like Apple and Nvidia around-the-clock on the network, the firms said on Wednesday. The move allows token versions of U.S. stocks such as Apple (AAPLx), Tesla (TSLAx) and S&P 500 ETF (SPYx) to be issued as BEP-20 tokens and accessible to users across BNB Chain’s ecosystem. The development comes with BNB Chain joining the xStocks Alliance, a network of exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols that offers trading with 60 equity and ETF tokens on crypto rails. Kraken said it will allow users to deposit and withdraw xStocks tokens through the BNB Chain in the upcoming weeks. The goal is to integrate equity tokens deeper into DeFi, making them available to move across protocols and chains or post as collateral for borrowing, Adam Levi, co-founder of Backed, said in a press release. "This is the beginning of an always-on equity market — one that is permissionless, transparent, and built for the internet," Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, said in a statement. "These instruments behave as programmable settlement primitives, unlocking atomic settlement, real-time global transferability, and composability with on-chain lending, derivatives, and structured products." Trading platforms are racing to bring equities onto blockchain rails as tokenization of traditional financial instruments, or real-world assets (RWA), gains steam. Backed's xStocks debuted last week on Kraken, Bybit and Solana-based (SOL) DeFi platforms, while Gemini and Robinhood have introduced trading with tokenized U.S. stocks. Crypto exchange Bitget also introduced xStocks tokens on its trading platform on Wednesday after joining the alliance, the exchange said in a press release. Read more: Backed Finance Debuts Tokenized Stocks on Bybit, Kraken and Solana DeFi Protocols