Crypto Comes for Wall Street’s Lunch
Kraken’s tokenized stocks are a shot across the bow of legacy finance.
It’s been a big week in crypto:
● Bitcoin hit a new all-time high.
● Coinbase lost $400 million thanks to their customer info leaks.
● And President Trump hosted a memecoin dinner at the White House. Yes, really.
But among the headlines, one development stands out not just for its shock value, but for what it signals about the future of investing: Kraken’s move into tokenized equities.
Make no mistake; crypto is coming for Wall Street’s lunch.
Kraken’s Bold Play: Tokenized US Stocks on Solana
Kraken, in partnership with Backed, has launched xStocks, a product offering more than 50 tokenized US equities and ETFs for non-US investors. These include big names like Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, along with index funds like the S&P 500 — all tokenized and tradable 24/7 on the Solana blockchain.
The goal? Make investing in US equities as simple, fast, and global as trading crypto.
“Access to traditional U.S. equities remains slow, costly, and restricted,” said Mark Greenberg, Kraken’s Global Head of Consumer. “With xStocks, we’re using blockchain technology to deliver something better—open, instant, accessible, and borderless exposure to some of America’s most iconic companies.”
The contrast with Wall Street couldn’t be clearer. While US equity markets still settle trades via clearing houses running on 1980s tech (and only during working hours), Kraken is offering instant, on-chain settlement.
In effect, Kraken is becoming its own clearing house — just two years after the SEC charged them with doing exactly that.
Why Now? Because the Rules Are Changing
Tokenized stocks aren’t new. Binance tried something similar in 2021, but pulled the plug after regulatory scrutiny from, you guessed it, the SEC.
BlackRock tokenized stocks too, but only for institutions with at least $25 million in assets (basically not for the likes of you and me).
So what’s changed? In short, the regulatory climate. The Trump administration’s laissez-faire approach to financial oversight has created an opening. Regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis have been rolled back. And crypto is suddenly back in fashion at the highest levels of government. Trump’s memecoin dinner was more than a PR stunt; it was a signal.
SEC enforcement has softened too. The regulator’s previous “enforcement-as-regulation” stance has been dialed back, giving companies like Kraken space to make moves.
This is deregulation in action. It’s a gamble, sure — but it’s one that could drive a wave of short-term innovation for RWAs.
Real-World Asset (RWA) Domination
Kraken’s move is part of a broader trend: the rise of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). While the term gets thrown around often, xStocks show what it can look like in practice.
By putting equities on-chain, Kraken is:
● Lowering the barrier to investing in US companies,
● Offering fractional, 24/7 access,
● Giving retail investors outside the US a direct line into American markets,
It’s a clean example of crypto infrastructure doing something traditional finance hasn’t managed to figure out: open, global distribution of financial assets in real time.
The Stakes: Can Wall Street Afford to Ignore This?
xStocks could be a challenge to how equity markets work.
The clearing and settlement layer of US finance is ripe for disruption. Kraken, by launching on Solana, is effectively saying: “We’ll handle this ourselves.”
That’s huge. It raises questions about whether the traditional role of clearing houses and exchanges is sustainable in a world where blockchain can do the job faster and cheaper.
If xStocks gain traction, they could become the blueprint for a new kind of financial infrastructure.
Final Thoughts
Of course, there are risks. Regulatory crackdowns could return. Tokenized assets could split liquidity. And Solana, while fast, isn’t invulnerable to outages or exploits.
But innovation rarely comes without risk. And if Kraken can pull this off, the payoff could be massive, not just for the exchange, but for the evolution of capital markets.