Kraken is acquiring Backed Finance to deepen its push into tokenized stocks and ETFs, with Co-CEO Arjun Sethi saying the exchange is “doing it, not hyping it” as it integrates real-world asset tokens directly into its platform.

Crypto exchange Kraken has agreed to acquire Backed Finance AG, a tokenization infrastructure firm that issues xStocks, a leading suite of tokenized equities that mirror real-world stocks and ETFs. The deal, for an undisclosed amount, follows Kraken’s recent $800 million funding round at a roughly $20 billion valuation and comes as the exchange prepares for a planned IPO, signaling that tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) are a core pillar of its post-IPO strategy. Backed Finance specializes in issuing fully collateralized tokens that track U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, distributed through its xStocks product, which has surpassed about $10–12 billion in combined exchange and on-chain trading volume within months of launch and holds a significant share of the public stock tokenization market. Kraken already offered Backed-issued tokenized equities, and the acquisition will fold Backed’s team and infrastructure into Kraken so that issuance, trading, and settlement can be unified under one framework, including deeper integration into Kraken’s broader product suite and its global money app, Krak, enabling customers to hold and potentially spend tokenized equities alongside crypto and fiat. Strategically, Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi frames the move as building “core architecture” for open, programmable capital markets rather than a speculative tokenization bet, with a focus on transparent, compliant infrastructure for tokenized assets. The acquisition positions Kraken more aggressively in the race to make tokenized stocks and ETFs accessible 24/5 on centralized exchanges and 24/7 on-chain, targeting growing institutional and retail demand for RWA tokenization while consolidating a previously fragmented market structure around tokenized securities.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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