KRAKEN | Crypto

Nasdaq and Kraken will enable tokenized equities to move between regulated and onchain markets while preserving issuer rights and regulatory compliance. Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization, is expanding its push into tokenized equities through a partnership with crypto exchange Kraken and its infrastructure affiliate Backed. The exchange said Monday it plans to support equity tokenization in a way that preserves issuer control, as it looks to connect traditional market infrastructure with blockchain-based networks. Nasdaq has partnered with Payward, Kraken’s parent company, and its subsidiary Backed, the issuer behind xStocks, to develop an equities transformation gateway. Read more

Nasdaq plans to work with Kraken to distribute tokenized versions of public stocks globally as the exchange pushes to bring blockchain infrastructure into traditional markets.

The new onchain trading engine from the xStocks platform enables trading of more than 70 tokenized equities across Ethereum and Solana. Kraken’s tokenized equities platform xStocks has launched xChange, an onchain trading engine designed to facilitate trading of tokenized stocks across the Ethereum and Solana networks. According to the company, the system supports trading of more than 70 tokenized equities backed 1:1 by underlying shares held in custody, with prices intended to track the corresponding public market stocks. The launch adds new trading infrastructure for tokenized equities, part of the broader tokenized real-world asset market that aims to bring traditional financial instruments such as stocks onto blockchain-based trading systems. Read more

Kraken secures Fed payment access, MARA clarifies its Bitcoin treasury plans, Fold cuts $66M in debt, and analysts say NYSE tokenization could attract institutions. The digital asset sector took another step toward integration with traditional finance this week when Kraken secured direct access to the US Federal Reserve’s payment rails — a milestone that could reshape how crypto companies move dollars. Direct access to the Fed’s payment infrastructure could give the crypto exchange greater control over dollar flows while reducing reliance on banking partners, a longstanding challenge for the industry. It also signals that crypto infrastructure is continuing to mature and integrate with the traditional banking system despite broader industry headwinds and a months-long market correction — one of the key themes in this week’s Crypto Biz newsletter. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) miner MARA Holdings pushed back on speculation that it plans to dump its BTC reserves, clarifying that recent regulatory filings simply expa...

The US Federal Reserve has issued a limited-use master account to Kraken, marking a major pro-crypto shift in policy. Recent events at the US Federal Reserve signal acceptance of digital assets at the highest levels of the country’s monetary system.  Kraken recently became the first crypto exchange to receive a master account at the Federal Reserve. The Fed could also see a new crypto-friendly chair. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday submitted a pro-Bitcoin candidate for the Senate’s consideration. Read more

Kraken has cleared a regulatory hurdle that crypto firms have chased for years: direct access to the Federal Reserve’s core payments infrastructure. On March 4, the exchange said its Wyoming-chartered bank, Kraken Financial, has been granted a Federal Reserve master account, allowing it to settle US dollar payments directly over Fed rails instead of routing […] The post Kraken just got rare Federal Reserve access in a move crypto firms have chased for years appeared first on CryptoSlate.

In a first for crypto, Kraken’s banking unit gained access to the US Federal Reserve’s payment system, Fedwire, though without full banking privileges such as interest on reserves. US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken’s banking unit has been granted a limited-purpose master account by the US Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, giving it direct access to the Fed’s core payments system in a first for the crypto industry. Kraken Financial, the exchange’s banking unit, has gained access to the Fed’s payment system, Fedwire, allowing it to move money on the same rails used by banks and credit unions, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City approved a limited-purpose account for Wyoming-based Payward Financial as a “Tier 3 entity,” according to a statement by the bank. Read more

The approval lets Kraken speed up deposits and withdrawals for large traders and institutional clients, but is limited.

[PRESS RELEASE – San Francisco, CA, USA, February 26th, 2026] PACT, the leading on-chain credit and payments infrastructure protocol and #1 RWA protocol on Aptos, today announced that its native token, $PACT, is now supported on the world’s most trusted cryptocurrency exchanges, including Kraken, MEXC, and Gate. PACT Expands Access as It Builds the Future […]

The crypto exchange’s new Flexline product lets Pro users borrow against digital assets at fixed rates of 10%–25% APR for terms of up to two years. Crypto exchange Kraken has launched Flexline, a crypto-backed loan product that allows Kraken Pro users to borrow against their digital asset holdings without selling them. According to Wednesday’s announcement, the fixed-rate loans carry terms ranging from two days to two years, with proceeds issued in crypto or stablecoins that can be traded on the platform or withdrawn, depending on regional eligibility. The company describes its eponymous product as “geared toward beginners and individual investors, while Kraken Pro is for advanced and institutional traders.” Read more

Kraken’s new contracts, built on the xStocks framework, offer up to 20x leverage on tokenized benchmarks tied to US equities and gold. Crypto exchange Kraken has launched trading of tokenized equity perpetual futures on its regulated derivatives platforms, allowing eligible non-US clients to trade 24/7 leveraged exposure to major US stock indexes, gold and individual companies including Nvidia, Apple and Tesla. According to Tuesday’s announcement, the contracts are structured as perpetual futures, derivatives that trade without expiry, and are offered to eligible clients outside the United States. Kraken described the products as the first regulated tokenized equity perpetual futures to be listed on a derivatives venue. The products are built using the xStocks framework, which issues blockchain-based representations of publicly traded stocks and exchange-traded funds. Kraken said the contracts reference tokenized equity benchmarks rather than directly holding the underlying shares. Read more

At NEARCON 2026, Dragonfly’s Haseeb Qureshi and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi delivered a sharp debate over how soon those agents can be trusted with real money.

Blockchain-based versions of US stocks are drawing growing investor activity, with onchain wallets and cross-venue trading expanding rapidly. Kraken’s tokenized equities platform, xStocks, has surpassed $25 billion in total transaction volume less than eight months after launch, underscoring accelerating adoption as tokenization gains traction among mainstream investors. Kraken disclosed Thursday that the $25 billion figure includes trading across centralized exchanges and decentralized exchanges, as well as minting and redemption activity. The milestone represents a 150% increase since November, when xStocks first crossed $10 billion in cumulative transaction volume. The xStocks tokens are issued by Backed Finance, a regulated asset provider that creates 1:1 backed tokenized representations of publicly traded equities and exchange-traded funds. Kraken serves as a primary distribution and trading venue, while Backed is responsible for structuring and issuing the tokenized instruments. Read more

The crypto exchange's parent company acquired several platforms in 2025 while confidentially filing for an initial public offering with the SEC. Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, has acquired tokenization platform Magna, expanding the company’s infrastructure. Kraken said Wednesday the acquisition would allow Magna to operate “as a standalone platform, powered by” the crypto exchange. The company’s announcement said Kraken would use the platform for “onchain and offchain vesting, white-label token claims, custody and escrow workflows, specialized staking functionality” and other functions. “Joining Kraken gives us the resources to support existing and new clients with institutional-grade infrastructure, deeper liquidity, and global distribution,” said Magna CEO Bruno Faviero. Read more

The deal adds token lifecycle infrastructure to Kraken’s growing product suite.

The integration gives ICE Chat users direct access to the exchange's OTC crypto liquidity, embedding digital asset trading within established institutional workflows. US-based crypto exchange Kraken has integrated its over-the-counter desk with Intercontinental Exchange’s ICE Chat, enabling institutional traders to access Kraken’s crypto liquidity directly through a messaging platform widely used across global financial markets. ICE Chat connects more than 120,000 market participants, including banks, brokers and trading desks that use the system for real-time deal negotiation and execution. The integration allows those clients to communicate directly with Kraken’s OTC desk within their existing trading workflows. Kraken said it is the first cryptocurrency platform approved to connect to ICE Chat, placing its crypto liquidity alongside traditional asset classes within established institutional communications infrastructure. Read more

Kraken has moved chief financial officer Stephanie Lemmerman to a strategic advisory role, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Blockchain tokenization is radically expanding the definition of money, enabling anyone to trade, save and spend in virtually any asset they like, says Kraken’s Mark Greenberg. Blockchain tokenization is transforming money beyond fiat currencies such as the US dollar by allowing users to save and instantly move virtually any asset across platforms, said a Kraken executive. “I think we’re past the point where money only means fiat or your local currency,” Kraken head of consumer Mark Greenberg told CNBC on Wednesday, adding that “anything can be money” with tokenization. Kraken’s xStocks is one of several tokenized stock offerings to hit the market this year as crypto exchanges look to expand beyond offering crypto trading. Coinbase and Gemini have also begun to offer tokenized stocks and have pushed betting via prediction markets as another offering to hook users. Read more

Kraken’s pending IPO and the wave of crypto companies seeking public listings may help the industry attract more TradFi capital. A potential initial public offering (IPO) next year by cryptocurrency exchange Kraken may attract fresh capital from traditional finance (TradFi) investors. Bitcoin recorded an all-time high price above $126,000 on Oct. 6, but hasn’t recovered from a $19 billion liquidation event that hit the industry a few days later. At the time of writing, the world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading at $87,015 per coin, down 6% in two weeks, according to CoinGecko. Still, Dan Tapiero, founder and CEO of 50T Funds, claimed that the Bitcoin (BTC) bull market is "still mid-stage.” He added that Kraken’s IPO and an increasing number of (M&As) may provide the necessary tailwinds to bring new capital from TradFi. Read more

Kraken and Deutsche Börse plan to connect foreign exchange, tokenized stocks and Eurex derivatives in a phased rollout targeting institutional clients. Deutsche Börse Group, a global exchange organization, has entered into a strategic partnership with the US crypto exchange Kraken with a mission of bridging traditional and digital markets. Kraken and Deutsche Börse are joining forces to create unified access across traditional and digital asset markets, according to a joint announcement on Thursday. The companies plan to improve institutional access to regulated crypto products, including spot trading, tokenized markets and derivatives, as well as enhanced liquidity for institutions across multiple jurisdictions. Read more