On Tuesday, Kraken, a leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, launched a trading service for U.S. stocks and stock tokens in Europe.
The Block reports that Kraken has unveiled its xStocks trading service, allowing qualified European users to trade stocks listed on U.S. exchanges alongside stock tokens.
Kraken had previously offered this service on a limited basis in Germany, the Netherlands, and France. A company spokesperson stated they’ve expanded the services recently and are now rolling out operations across Europe starting today.
The platform enables users to trade 7,000 traditional stocks, 600 cryptocurrencies, and 700 xStocks stock tokens all within a single account.
Mark Greenberg, Chief Commercial Officer of Kraken’s parent company Payward, explained that investors can now seamlessly invest in both traditional stocks and tokens without the hassle of transferring funds or switching between platforms.
Since its launch in June 2022, xStocks has achieved an impressive cumulative trading volume of 38 billion USD. Notably, the company plans to offer stock trading without separate transaction fees.
In the coming months, Kraken aims to expand its integrated traditional stock and stock token services to additional regions.
Stock tokens now represent 15% of the real-world asset (RWA) market, tripling their share since the beginning of the year. The total market capitalization has reached approximately 2.8 billion USD.
The stock token market is primarily dominated by On-Chain Finance and Binance’s bStocks, along with Kraken’s xStocks, collectively accounting for 77% of the market share.