Chiara Bianchi
Kraken has reached an agreement to acquire Backed Finance, the company responsible for issuing tokenized versions of traditional assets through its xStocks offering. The deal strengthens Krakenโs position in the rapidly accelerating tokenization sector โ a strategic area gaining momentum as the exchange works toward a potential IPO in 2026.
Backed Finance creates onchain representations of 71+ equities and ETFs, each tied 1:1 to real underlying securities. According to data from RWA.xyz, the company holds roughly 23% of the market, making it the second-largest provider of tokenized public stocks.
Kraken did not reveal financial details of the acquisition in its announcement.
A Partnership Years in the Making
The acquisition formalizes a collaboration that has quietly expanded over the past year. Backed has powered xStocks since its launch, helping Kraken generate over $5 billion in cumulative trading volume through the product.
Kraken initially launched xStocks in the U.S., later expanded access to Europe, and more recently brought support to Tron, BNB Chain, and Solana โ significantly broadening participation across ecosystems.
Beyond Kraken, Backedโs tech stack underpins tokenization efforts across the industry. For example, Bybit tapped Backed to introduce tokenized Nvidia, Strategy, and other equities into Mantleโs onchain environment, reflecting growing demand for blockchain-native representations of traditional financial assets.
Tokenization Shifts From Trend to Transformation
The timing of the acquisition aligns with a major industry shift: tokenization is moving into mainstream adoption. BlackRock executives Larry Fink and Rob Goldstein have argued that tokenization could transform global markets as deeply as the early internet transformed communication. Forecasts support this outlook. Standard Chartered estimates the tokenized RWA market could surpass $2 trillion by 2028, with Ethereum expected to remain the primary settlement layer.
Analysts from RedStone also note that demand for tokenized yield products and onchain collateral has dramatically accelerated throughout 2025.
By bringing Backed Finance fully in-house, Kraken secures end-to-end oversight of its tokenized equities pipeline. This allows the exchange to integrate tokenized assets more deeply across its spot markets, collateral models, and future financial products.
Backed, founded in 2021, will continue supporting its active tokens as it transitions under Krakenโs ownership.
A Larger Strategy to Lead the Tokenization Era
The deal fits into Krakenโs broader effort to position itself at the forefront of the next wave of blockchain adoption. Earlier this year, the company completed a funding round that valued it at around $20 billion.
Kraken has also confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO and executed several major acquisitions โ including the purchase of Small Exchange to bolster its U.S. derivatives presence, and the $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader, the largest cryptoโTradFi merger to date.
