Kraken has introduced tokenized equity perpetual futures,giving non-U.S. clients in more than 110 countries continuous leveraged accessto leading U.S. equities, indices, and gold. The new offering is built usingthe exchange’s xStocks framework and is available on Kraken and Kraken Proplatforms.Tokenized Access to EquitiesThe perpetual futures track tokenized versions of majorbenchmarks and companies, including the S&P 500 (SPYx), Nasdaq 100 (QQQx),gold (GLDx), Apple (AAPLx), Alphabet (GOOGLx), Nvidia (NVDAx), Tesla (TSLAx),Robinhood (HOODx), and others.Crypto derivatives venues such as Binance and BitMEX alreadylist equity‑style perpetual futures tied to names like Tesla and major U.S.indices, giving traders 24/7, leveraged exposure to stock prices using cryptomargin. Notably, Kraken’s offering is the combination of 1:1‑backedtokenized equities (xStocks), regulated benchmarks, and a more tightlyregulated structure around the underlying tokenized shares, rather than simplymirroring stock prices via cash‑settled crypto derivatives.Read more: Kraken-Backed xStocks Debut on Deutsche Börse’s 360X“This is what it looks like when traditional markets arerebuilt for a crypto-native, always-on world, not a moment too soon given thevolatility that all markets are exhibiting,” commented Kraken Global Head ofConsumer Mark Greenberg.According to the exchange, each xStock is fully collateralized and backed 1:1 by theunderlying asset, allowing them to trade on-chain 24/7, even when traditionalexchanges are closed.The tokenized equity perpetuals allow traders to open orclose positions at any time, with leverage of up to 20x. The instrumentsoperate with regulated benchmarks and support a range of trading strategies,including directional, event-driven, and hedging positions.Expansion PlansKraken aims to broaden its xStocks offering in thecoming months to include more tokenized equities and ETFs, as well as expandaccess in additional markets. xStocks recently reported that it had surpassed $25 billionin cumulative transaction volume, highlighting the accelerating adoption oftokenized equities across both centralized and decentralized platforms. The exchange says the total captures trading on centralizedexchanges, activity on DeFi protocols, and mint and redemption flows for itstokenized products, all achieved in under eight months. Onchain activity alone contributes more than $3.5 billion ofthe volume, supported by over 80,000 unique onchain holders participating inthe xStocks ecosystem. As of February 17, xStocks accounts for eight of theeleven largest tokenized equities by unique holders and 68% of the top 25tokenized stocks by holder count.This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.