Cryptoeconomics

News, data and analysis on tokenized assets, market design and digital economic systems.

Exchange

Kraken

Distributor of Backed's xStocks tokenized equity certificates, which it bought outright in January 2026 to hold issuance and trading in one group; it reported $357bn of platform transaction volume and 6.1m funded accounts for the quarter to 31 March 2026.

Kind Exchange
Jurisdiction United States
Founded 2011
Stories filed 0

The profile

Cryptoasset exchange founded in July 2011 as Payward, Inc. and open to the public since September 2013, which reported $507m of adjusted revenue, $357bn of platform transaction volume, 6.1m funded accounts and $40bn of client assets for the quarter to 31 March 2026. It distributes xStocks, the tokenized equity certificates issued by Backed Finance, and completed its purchase of Backed in January 2026 after agreeing terms on 2 December 2025, so issuance, trading and settlement of the tokens now sit in one group; xStocks passed 100 tokenized equities in the same quarter, against a stated target of more than 500 by the end of 2026. Group entities hold a cryptoasset service provider licence from the Central Bank of Ireland under MiCA, a Cypriot MiFID investment firm licence, a Wyoming special purpose depository charter and a broker-dealer registration with the SEC, and it added the derivatives venue Bitnomial in May 2026.

Products and services

xStocks
Tokenized equity certificates issued by Backed Finance and distributed to clients outside the United States, past 100 instruments in the quarter to 31 March 2026.
Kraken exchange
Spot and margin cryptoasset venue whose share of global spot volume rose from 3.5% in mid-2025 to 5.2% in March 2026.
Kraken Derivatives US
Futures commission merchant registered with the CFTC, extended by the purchase of the derivatives venue Bitnomial in May 2026.
Kraken Financial
Wyoming-chartered special purpose depository institution held within the group.

No development naming Kraken has yet been filed against a primary source. The register entry stands so the institution, its jurisdiction and its products are on the record.

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