TL;DR
- LSEG and Payward plan to bring shares of the 100 largest LSE-listed companies onto blockchain rails through the xStocks framework over the coming weeks.
- xStocks have generated more than $40 billion in trading volume, nearly $20 billion settled onchain, and could reach investors across more than 110 countries.
- Subject to regulatory approval, LSE 24 may list xStocks, while LSEG and Payward will explore natively issued onchain shares with shareholder rights.
London Stock Exchange Group and Payward, the owner of Kraken, are preparing to bring shares of the 100 largest LSE-listed companies onto blockchain rails over the coming weeks. The plan uses Payward’s xStocks framework, where each token is backed one-to-one by an underlying share and can move across centralized exchanges, self-custody wallets and onchain applications. The striking shift is that some of Britain’s biggest public companies could soon become available through blockchain-based wrappers trading around the clock. The initiative extends tokenization from crypto-native markets into core U.K. equities.
Tokenized Shares Could Expand Access and Settlement Options
The structure is designed to make traditional shares more portable. Conventional brokerage holdings clear through intermediaries and settle during exchange hours, while tokenized counterparts can move instantly into a wallet or DeFi protocol while tracking the same underlying price. For investors, the appeal is less about changing the stock itself and more about changing how ownership exposure can move, settle and interact with digital markets. xStocks have already generated more than $40 billion in total trading volume in just over a year, with nearly $20 billion settled onchain and more than 200,000 holders.
The partnership could also broaden access geographically. U.K.-listed xStocks may become available to investors in more than 110 countries, although they are not currently offered to U.K.-based investors. Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE plans to list xStocks on LSE 24, its recently announced 24-hour venue, eventually spanning tokenized equities from the U.S., EU, U.K. and Hong Kong. The bigger ambition is to connect regulated exchange infrastructure with always-on blockchain markets without abandoning the legal framework surrounding traditional shares. Additional asset classes could be added as the system develops for institutional and retail participants across global markets.
LSEG and Payward also plan to explore natively issued equity tokens rather than only one-to-one-backed representations of existing shares. Under that model, LSE members could issue and service shares directly onchain with full fungibility and the same rights as conventional stock. That possibility moves the project from tokenized replicas toward securities that could originate on blockchain infrastructure itself. LSE plc CEO Julia Hoggett stressed that tokenization must preserve the trust, rights and role of regulated markets, while Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi argued that crypto and traditional finance do not need to exist in opposition. LSEG shares fell 2% in early London trading.
