Kraken Acquires Backed Finance

Kraken, the third-largest centralized exchange (CEX) by volume in the United States, announced today the acquisition of Backed Finance to further develop its tokenized stock offering.

The move will bolster Kraken’s tokenized equity platform, xStocks, which crossed the $10 billion total trading volume threshold in November.

“Bringing Backed fully into our ecosystem also allows greater alignment on strategy and investment priorities, unlocking the full economic potential of xStocks,” Kraken said in a blog post.

Tokenized equities have been one of the hottest narratives of 2025, and both centralized and decentralized venues are starting to see activity take off through both xStocks and Hyperunit’s TradeXYZ.

This breakout in tokenized stocks comes amid a booming real-world asset (RWA) market, which has grown to $36 billion from just $8 billion, a 350% gain, since the beginning of 2024.

“This is foundational work for the next era of market structure. This is bigger than giving people exposure to U.S. equities; it’s about redefining what it means to own assets in the digital era,” said Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi.

“Kraken plans to integrate xStocks more deeply into its broader product suite — including Krak, its global money app — allowing customers to hold and spend in tokenized equities,” he concluded.