The competition of tokenized stocks is expanding from the US market to Europe. Stocks of traditional listed companies such as Siemens, Shell, and LVMH are beginning to enter crypto trading platforms in the form of on-chain tokens.

On November 11, Kraken's parent company Payward announced the launch of tokenized versions of over 200 UK and European stocks through its xStocks framework, covering companies like Siemens, Shell, and LVMH, and including constituents of the UK FTSE 100 index and the German DAX index.

These assets can be traded on Kraken and other platforms supporting xStocks, and they enable round-the-clock on-chain trading. This expansion brings the total number of tokenized assets in xStocks to over 1,500.

This means that tokenized stocks are no longer limited to large US tech stocks like Apple and Tesla, and traditional European listed companies are also starting to enter the on-chain asset trading system.

From US Stocks to the European Market, Payward Expands Product Range

When Payward first launched xStocks, it mainly covered US stocks and ETFs.

As the product scale has expanded, Payward has started to extend its business to more countries and regions. In September of this year, Nasdaq announced an investment of $100 million into Payward through its investment division, deepening the collaboration between the two parties in stock tokenization, market surveillance, and round-the-clock trading infrastructure.

Previously, Payward also reached a cooperation agreement with the London Stock Exchange Group to include stocks of 100 large listed UK companies into the tokenized product system and explore future trading services through the LSE 24 platform.

The addition of over 200 UK and European stocks is part of its international expansion plan.

According to data disclosed by Payward, the cumulative trading volume of xStocks has reached approximately $45 billion, with the platform's asset scale exceeding $1.1 billion and over 550,000 holders.

However, these numbers do not imply that tokenized stocks have replaced the traditional securities market. Compared to traditional European stock exchanges, the current scale of on-chain stock trading is still relatively small.

Tokenized Stocks Do Not Equal Direct Holding of Stocks

The most important clarification regarding this expansion is what tokenized stocks actually represent.

xStocks utilizes a token structure supported by underlying stocks, where each token corresponds to the relevant stock at a 1:1 ratio and is held by a regulated custodian institution. GTN is responsible for the relevant brokerage and custody infrastructure.

However, 1:1 support does not mean that investors directly become shareholders of the listed companies.

According to the existing product structure of xStocks, these tokens represent certificates that track stock prices, and holders gain economic exposure to the corresponding stocks without directly owning the underlying stocks or automatically receiving the full rights of traditional shareholders, such as voting rights.

This contrasts with the native tokenization model for securities that some regulatory agencies are promoting.

The latter seeks to allow tokens to directly represent securities interests while retaining ownership and shareholder rights of traditional stocks as much as possible, provided that regulatory requirements are met.

Thus, although "stock tokenization" is used in the market, the underlying legal structures may be completely different.

Why is Europe Becoming the New Expansion Direction?

The regulatory environment in the European market provides a different product development pathway for tokenized stocks compared to the US.

Payward believes that European regulations allow it to launch stock-supported tokens under specific legal structures without having to obtain issuance authorization from each underlying listed company individually.

This does not mean that there are no regulatory requirements in Europe. xStocks still needs to adhere to regulations concerning the place of issuance, distribution regions, and investor eligibility.

In fact, UK investors still cannot directly use xStocks on Kraken, and US investors are also subject to regional restrictions. The inclusion of UK listed stocks does not mean that local users in the UK can trade these tokens.

This also reflects a characteristic of the tokenized stock market: the country from which the underlying stock originates, where the token is issued, and the jurisdiction in which the investor is located may correspond to different regulatory rules.

Can Round-the-Clock Trading Change the Stock Market?

The traditional stock market is limited by the trading hours of exchanges, whereas on-chain tokens can circulate continuously on supported trading platforms and networks.

This offers investors more flexible trading times and provides an opportunity for stock assets to enter crypto wallets, on-chain trading, and other digital asset application scenarios.

However, round-the-clock trading does not mean that the underlying stock market is open all the time. When traditional exchanges are closed, the prices of on-chain tokens may be affected by insufficient liquidity, lagging reference prices, and widening bid-ask spreads.

Moreover, the custody of underlying stocks, token redemption, cross-platform trading, and legal rights remain key factors determining the reliability of the product.

The entry of over 200 European stocks into xStocks signifies that tokenized stocks are moving from the US market to more regions. However, the next stage of competition is not just about how many stock codes are added, but who can establish a truly sustainable trading system amid cross-border regulations, underlying custody, and shareholder rights.

If you are also paying attention to the Crypto market and want to participate in trading or asset allocation, you can register through the following exclusive channels and enjoy discounts:

Binance: Register through the exclusive link, fill in the invitation code aicoin668, and enjoy a 10% commission rebate.

Registration link: https://jump.do/zh-Hans/xlink-proxy?id=3

Benefit group: https://www.aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=gmLgwvKD1

OKX: Register via AiCoin's exclusive link to enjoy a permanent 20% commission rebate.

Registration link: https://jump.do/zh-Hans/xlink-proxy?id=2

Benefit group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=l61eM4owQ

Bitget: Register through AiCoin's exclusive channel to enjoy a 10% transaction fee rebate.

Registration link: https://jump.do/zh-Hans/xlink-proxy?id=6

Benefit group: https://aicoin.com/link/chat?cid=N63yYYKQE

You are also welcome to join the AiCoin-related communities to get more information about new tokens and earning opportunities on exchanges:

Official Telegram community: https://t.me/aicoin_support

AiCoin Chinese Twitter: https://x.com/AiCoinzh

This article represents the author's personal views and does not represent the platform's position. The opinions, conclusions, and suggestions in this article are for investor reference only and do not constitute any investment advice related to the platform. The market has risks, and investments should be made cautiously.

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到[email protected]，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。