Kraken, a technology platform built on crypto that unlocks access and reduces inefficiencies to drive financial freedom, and Backed, a pioneering issuer of tokenized stocks, today announced a strategic partnership with BNB Chain, one of the world's leading blockchain ecosystems. Through this partnership, BNB Chain joins the rapidly growing xStocks Alliance, further accelerating on-chain access to tokenized U.S. equities for users across the world. In the coming weeks, Kraken will allow xStocks to be deposited and withdrawn from its platform by eligible Kraken clients via BNB Chain.
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As part of the collaboration, Backed will deploy xStocks the standard for tokenized equities on BNB Chain as BEP-20 tokens, giving users seamless access to tokenized representations of U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs. This includes assets like AAPLx, TSLAx, SPYx, and NVDAx. By expanding to BNB Chain, xStocks continues its mission to meet users where they are bringing traditional equities onchain and opening access for underserved markets around the world.
BNB Chain was selected for the alliance due to its high performance, low transaction fees, and its position as one of the largest blockchain ecosystems by on-chain activity. With around $10 billion in TVL and one of the most active Web3 user communities, it offers a strong foundation for growing tokenized asset adoption. Together, Kraken, Backed and BNB Chain remain committed to democratizing investing by enabling 24/7 exposure to U.S. markets anytime, all over the world.
Arjun Sethi, Kraken's Co-CEO said "The response to xStocks has made one thing increasingly clear the future of capital markets will be chain neutral, composable, and multichain by design. Expanding to BNB Chain reinforces our core belief that tokenized equities are not just digital wrappers for traditional assets they are a foundational upgrade to the financial system itself. These instruments behave as programmable settlement primitives, unlocking atomic settlement, real-time global transferability, and composability with onchain lending, derivatives, and structured products.
"In a world that will inevitably be multichain, it is critical that assets like equities can move fluidly across ecosystems, protocols, and liquidity layers without being gated by jurisdiction or legacy custodial rails. As more chains integrate xStocks, we are not just expanding access we are building the infrastructure to make equities globally accessible, usable, and interoperable for both retail and institutional capital. This is the beginning of an always-on equity market one that is permissionless, transparent, and built for the internet."
Adam Levi, co-founder of Backed said: "xStocks are built as a neutral, public-good asset class, and expanding to BNB Chain is a key step toward making them the standard for tokenized equities. Our goal is to bring traditional finance onto blockchain rails not just by improving access, but by enabling true composability. Integrated into DeFi, tokenized equities will surpass the scale and utility of stablecoins. With BNB Chain's global reach and deep liquidity, it's a natural partner for advancing that vision."
Sarah S, Head of Business Development at BNB Chain, said "Tokenizing real-world assets on BNB Chain is a meaningful step in making global finance more accessible and transparent. Our collaboration with Kraken and Backed reflects BNB Chain's commitment to bringing high-quality financial instruments on-chain and connecting traditional markets with decentralized finance for users around the world."
BNB Chain's addition marks another significant milestone for xStocks, expanding the alliance to one of the world's largest and most active blockchain ecosystems. Recently, Kraken launched over 60 tokenized U.S. equities deployed by Backed as SPL-tokens on Solana for users across 140 countries. This strategic partnership signals the next phase in mainstreaming tokenized equities, cementing xStocks' leading role at the forefront of this rapidly evolving digital asset landscape.
xStocks are not available in the U.S. or to U.S. persons. Geo restrictions apply
About Kraken
Kraken is a technology platform built on crypto that unlocks access and reduces inefficiencies to drive financial freedom for the crypto economy and beyond.
Millions of individuals, professional traders, and institutions around the world use Kraken to trade digital and traditional assets, including cryptocurrencies, national currencies, U.S. futures, and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs.
Kraken markets can be monitored and traded via the web or through the Kraken, Kraken Pro, and Krak iOS and Android apps. Futures platforms by NinjaTrader, a Kraken company, are available on desktop, web, and mobile via www.ninjatrader.com.
For more information about Kraken, please visit www.kraken.com.
About Backed
Founded in 2021, Backed is a Swiss-based company creating permissionless tokens tracking the value of publicly listed equities and ETFs. Its flagship product line, xStocks, provides compliant, 1:1-backed tokenized equities available across multiple blockchain ecosystems.
https://backed.fi
About BNB Chain
BNB Chain is a community-driven blockchain ecosystem that is removing barriers to Web3 adoption it's one of the largest chains by trading volume and active users. It is composed of:
- BNB Smart Chain (BSC): A secure DeFi hub with the lowest gas fees of any EVM-compatible L1; serves as the ecosystem's governance chain.
- opBNB: A scalability L2 that delivers some of the lowest gas fees of any L2 and rapid processing speeds.
- BNB Greenfield Meets decentralized storage needs for the ecosystem and lets users establish their own data marketplaces.
Setting a high bar for security, the AvengerDAO community protects BNB Chain users while Red Alarm provides a real-time risk-scanner for Dapps. For more, follow BNB Chain on X or start exploring via our Dapp library.
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Contacts:
Media Contact:
Lauren Post
press@kraken.com
