Tokenized Stocks Hit $2.3B and Kraken Just Went After the 90 Markets That Robinhood and Coinbase Are Ignoring

Image of Kraken xStocks expanding tokenized stocks across Hong Kong, the UK, and South Korea through GTN's global network, highlighting RWA crypto and tokenized equities 2026

The tokenized stock market has grown exponentially over the years from $500M in 2025 to a staggering $2.3B market today. Tokenized stocks are digital versions of stocks launched on blockchain, which has now become a key market to establish one’s dominion on. Solana, on the other hand, has emerged as a key player here, processing nearly 96% of the tokenized stock transactions. Kraken xStocks now offers more than 500 assets, has processed over $35B in transaction volume, and serves more than 200,000 holders. The domain’s popularity is steadily growing, inviting Binance and Robinhood to expand their offerings into the space. Binance launched bStocks on June 11, while Robinhood expanded its offerings. In the meantime, Coinbase is also preparing to launch next month, signifying the race to capitalize on the tokenized stock domain.

While nearly every major platform is competing for this domain, Kraken’s parent company Payward is thinking otherwise. On July 22, the firm partnered with GTN to explore Hong Kong equities on-chain before expanding to the UK, Europe, and South Korea through a network spanning more than 90 markets. This move by Kraken’s parent company is dubbed a one-of-a-kind move, with Payward stating it as targeting the world’s largest “untokenized asset class outside the US.”

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Why Kraken Is Targeting Hong Kong, London, and Seoul While Every Other Exchange Races for the Same US Shares

Kraken crypto exchange logo
Source: Reuters

The race to dominate the global tokenized equities 2026 market has now intensified. The tokenized stock market is now visibly crowded with major market players trying their best to enter the space. Binance launched bStocks on June 11, 2026, with Robinhood expanding its tokenized offering earlier this month. Moreover, Coinbase has also forayed into the sector, preparing to launch next month. Leading stock market contenders such as DTCC and NYSE are also busy developing blockchain-based security infrastructure, attempting to explore the domain.

With the majority of the market players targeting one sector, Payward has chosen a different path altogether. Kraken’s Payward is targeting markets outside the US by partnering with GTN in the process. Leaving the US stock race, GTN’s partnership with Payward assists the firm by gaining access to 90 global markets, starting with Hong Kong, before expanding to the UK, Europe, and South Korea. Payward believes that the new market opportunity lies within the tokenized stock market domain in the vast global equity market outside the US. Supporting this narrative, the Global Head of Payward Services, Mark Greenberg, shared:

“For decades, we’ve accepted that capital markets should be fragmented by country, currency, and market hours. That’s a legacy financial infrastructure problem. The biggest asset class that hasn’t been tokenized yet is the rest of the world, and our partnership with GTN is about changing that. One asset at a time, we’re bringing truly global capital markets onchain until geography becomes irrelevant to investing.”

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Kraken Intends to Explore the Global RWA Strategy

The GTN Payward partnership is much broader in scope than it seems. Over time, Payward intends to extend Kraken xStocks beyond shares to include bonds and ETFs in its scope of offerings. This will help the firm create a solid RWA crypto system, banking on assets outside the US. The company’s xStocks global expansion through GTN’s network also strengthens its international strategy. This move complements Payward’s early partnership with Nasdaq to develop a tokenized equities gateway in early 2027.

Tokenized Stocks Could Become a $2 Trillion Market by 2030

The rapidly surging popularity of tokenized stocks portrays how quickly the domain is getting steady adoption. The sector has now expanded from $500M to $2.3B. It generated $5.77B in Q2 2026 trading volume, more than seven times the previous half-year total. The rapidly growing RWA crypto adoption also signals deep demand for decentralized ecosystems to gain pace within our current infrastructure.

Industry forecasts and analysts are now predicting the tokenized stock market may hit $2 trillion by 2030. As rivals continue to battle over the US stock and equities, Kraken’s unique approach is intended to capture markets outside the US. The strategy also aims to decrease friction in the middle.

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Juhi Mirza

Written by Juhi Mirza

Juhi Mirza covers cryptocurrency, DeFi, blockchain, and on-chain markets, translating complex developments into clear, data-driven reporting.

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