• Kraken acquires Backed Finance AG to speed up xStocks enlargement.
• xStocks’ quantity exceeded $10 billion inside six months.
• Co-CEO Arjun Sethi additionally praised Kalsi’s latest funding at a valuation of $11 billion.

Cryptocurrency change Kraken on Tuesday formally agreed to amass Backed Finance AG, executing a strategic shift to personal the infrastructure behind the fast-growing tokenized asset sector. The deal brings the issuance, compliance, and settlement of xStocks, which tokenize real-world shares, fully in-house, demonstrating Kraken’s intention to compete straight with conventional middleman fashions.

Based on Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, the mixing will lead to a extra “clear, dependable, and globally accessible” service for patrons. He stated:

“That is about greater than giving individuals publicity to U.S. shares, it’s about redefining what it means to personal belongings within the digital age.”

xStocks $10 Billion Validation

Inside six months of its debut in 2025, xStocks had a mixed change and on-chain buying and selling quantity of over $10 billion. The product presently gives entry to over 60 tokenized shares and ETFs, every tied on to the underlying asset.

These tokens work on Solana and Ethereum, and new chain integrations are within the works. Merchants have 24-hour entry via Kraken or straight on-chain.

With this acquisition, Kraken hopes to push xStocks into new territory. Backed plans to affix Kraken’s infrastructure to strengthen issuance, enhance compliance, and debut a mannequin that places token holders on the middle of financial return.

The corporate plans to combine xStocks extra deeply throughout its suite of merchandise, together with Krak, the change’s world cash app.

Associated: Kraken CEO raises $800 million pushed by “perception” after FTX 2.0 rejection

Kraken and Backed already preserve the xStocks Alliance, a associate community of buying and selling venues, blockchain infrastructure, and client platforms. This acquisition expands this partnership and helps better liquidity and cross-chain composability.

Kraken added that tokenized markets should stay open somewhat than restricted to proprietary platforms, arguing that impartial requirements permit for scale, innovation, and direct person management.

Co-CEO praises Kalsi

Sethi additionally praised Kalsi for elevating $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation. He stated that with improved liquidity, infrastructure and robust incentive fashions, prediction markets now seem poised to mature into important instruments for people and establishments.

“The financialization of knowledge is beginning to grow to be a actuality,” Sethi stated, including that “there may be much more to construct” within the digital asset area. Relating to the acquisition by Backed, Sethi added that Kraken plans to “reinvent the boundaries of conventional finance with new branding.”

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