Kraken has expanded US stock trading across the EEA, giving eligible customers access to traditional shares and tokenized equities within one regulated account.
Catenaa, Monday, August 24, 2026-Kraken has expanded US stock trading across the European Economic Area, allowing eligible customers to access traditional American shares alongside tokenized versions of equities and crypto assets within the same platform.
The move extends Kraken’s equities business beyond the United States and deepens the exchange’s push to become a broader multi-asset platform rather than a crypto-only venue.
Kraken said eligible EEA customers can trade more than 7,000 US stocks, over 700 xStocks and more than 600 crypto assets through Kraken Pro and its mobile app.
The company said the rollout had already begun in Germany, France and the Netherlands and is now being expanded across the wider EEA.
The most notable part of the launch is not simply access to US shares.
Kraken is offering customers two ways to gain similar market exposure within one account.
They can buy traditional US-listed shares through regulated securities infrastructure, or they can buy tokenized versions known as xStocks.
That gives customers a direct comparison between conventional equities ownership and blockchain-based market exposure without leaving the platform or moving funds elsewhere.
Kraken says this makes it the only crypto-native platform currently offering both traditional US shares and tokenized versions side by side to EEA customers in one regulated account.
Traditional shares and xStocks are not the same product.
A customer buying a conventional share owns that security through the standard securities framework, with the related shareholder rights and normal market structure.
By contrast, xStocks are tokenized representations designed to track the economic value of the underlying stock.
Kraken says xStocks are backed 1:1 by the corresponding shares held in regulated custody.
But holders of xStocks do not directly own the underlying company shares and do not receive voting rights.
Dividend economics are reflected through the token structure rather than by ordinary share ownership.
That means the choice is not just between two trading instruments, but between two forms of financial infrastructure.
The distinction also matters for how the products trade.
Traditional US shares remain tied to conventional securities market hours and standard settlement systems.
Orders placed outside regular trading windows must wait for the market to reopen, and settlement follows the normal securities timetable.
Tokenized equities can behave differently.
Some xStocks can trade around the clock on Kraken Pro, and tokenized assets can potentially move through blockchain networks beyond traditional market hours.
They can also be transferred to compatible self-custody wallets and used within supported onchain ecosystems.
That gives tokenized equities features that resemble crypto markets more than conventional brokerage systems.
Kraken said the EEA equities service is being offered through Payward Europe Digital Solutions, a Cyprus investment firm authorized under the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, or MiFID II.
Customers will need to accept additional terms before stock trading becomes available, and access will not automatically appear for every existing EEA customer.
Kraken also said the stock trading service will be commission-free, subject to applicable terms.
The launch comes as parent company Payward broadens its revenue mix beyond crypto spot trading.
Last week, Payward reported second-quarter adjusted revenue of $508 million, up 17% from a year earlier, while total platform trading volume fell 13%. The company said the mix has been shifting toward equities and tokenized equities.
That makes the EEA launch part of a broader business strategy rather than a simple product add-on.
Kraken’s move also comes as tokenized equities continue to gain traction in the real-world asset market.
The segment has grown rapidly this year as more firms push blockchain-based access to publicly traded stocks and exchange-traded funds.
Kraken says xStocks have generated more than $38 billion in total transaction volume since launching in June 2025.
The wider significance is that tokenized stocks are no longer being offered only as a workaround for users who cannot access ordinary brokerage infrastructure.
On Kraken, EEA customers can increasingly choose between the traditional share and its tokenized version in the same environment.
That creates a practical test of whether tokenization offers enough advantages, such as extended trading, self-custody and onchain transferability, to attract users when the underlying share is already available.
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Kraken’s EEA rollout points to a deeper shift in financial services.
The contest may no longer be crypto exchange versus stockbroker.
Instead, platforms are starting to compete by offering the same market exposure through multiple rails.
A customer can choose the conventional security if they want direct ownership under the traditional brokerage model.
Another can choose a tokenized representation if they value blockchain functionality and greater flexibility in how the asset moves.
That is more than feature expansion.
It is a sign that crypto platforms are beginning to merge brokerage, digital assets and tokenization into a single account experience.
For Kraken, the strategy could help reduce dependence on crypto trading cycles while positioning the firm at the center of the growing overlap between traditional finance and blockchain-based markets.
For the industry, it offers an early look at how investors may behave when both systems sit side by side.
What Comes Next
Kraken said it plans to expand the combined stock and tokenized-equity service to additional markets in the coming months.
That suggests the company sees the EEA not as a standalone launch, but as a model for broader multi-asset expansion.
The bigger question is whether customers will continue to prefer ordinary shares when tokenized alternatives are readily available, or whether tokenized equities will begin winning a larger share of trading activity on their own merits.
That answer could help determine how quickly tokenized securities move from niche innovation to mainstream financial product.
Kraken launched xStocks in 2025 as tokenized representations of US stocks and ETFs backed by underlying securities. The company later expanded into conventional stock trading and has increasingly positioned itself as a multi-asset platform spanning crypto, tokenized assets and traditional securities. Its parent company, Payward, has been broadening its business beyond spot crypto trading as institutional and retail interest in tokenized financial products continues to grow.
