London Stock Exchange, Kraken Parent Payward to Tokenize Top 100 UK Stocks

The London Stock Exchange is partnering with Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, to bring shares of major UK-listed companies onto the blockchain.

CoinDesk reported on Sept. 1 that LSE and Payward had agreed to issue tokenized shares tied to the 100 largest UK-listed companies by market capitalization using Payward’s xStocks platform. xStocks tokens are backed one-for-one by underlying shares and can be traded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on centralized exchanges, self-custody wallets and on-chain applications.

Payward says xStocks has topped $40 billion in cumulative trading volume in a little more than a year since launch. About $20 billion of that has been settled on-chain, and the number of holders now exceeds 200,000.

The agreement could make UK-listed shares available via blockchain to investors in more than 110 countries. xStocks is not currently offered to investors in the UK. Subject to regulatory approval, LSE plans to list xStocks on LSE 24, its recently announced 24-hour trading platform, and support trading there. It also plans to expand the lineup to include tokenized stocks from the US, the European Union, the UK and Hong Kong, along with additional asset classes.

The two companies also agreed to examine a structure under which LSE would issue stock tokens directly. In that case, LSE member firms would be able to issue and manage shares directly on-chain with the same rights and full compatibility as conventional equities.

“The assumption that crypto and traditional finance would collide was wrong from the start,” Payward co-Chief Executive Officer Arjun Sethi said.

LSE Chief Executive Officer Julia Hoggett struck a more cautious tone, saying tokenization should develop in a way that preserves the trust of regulated markets and investor rights.