Backed, the parent company of xStocks, has been acquired by Kraken. xStocks specializes in tokenized stocks, and the crypto stocks on exchanges like Kraken, Bybit, and Gate are all powered by xStocks. Right now, the use cases are still relatively limited, but it feels like as DeFi gains more support, the use cases will expand and become more flexible. Why? Because traditional stocks don’t have the flexibility of tokenized stocks. Can you pledge your stocks and borrow $USDT or $BTC anytime? Obviously not. Plus, stock dividends can even be rebased and passed along. Currently, the trading volume of CEX+DEX is already at $12B, while xStocks’ total scale is under $100M, with over 60+ stock assets moved onto the blockchain. If xStocks’ market grows to a scale of $5B-$10B, combining it with DeFi could make things incredibly imaginative. For example, would you be willing to put Tesla in a pool with a +/-50% range to earn interest and then completely sell it off after a 50% rise? Traditional stocks clearly can’t do this, but AMMs allow you to step away from price fluctuations and become a rent collector. Stocks that can be traded 24/7 without permission are obviously more appealing than opening an account at a securities company and trading during fixed hours. After all, most people who are used to Web3 find it hard to adapt to Web2’s model. I think xStocks has the potential to build a new paradigm for tokenized stocks.