Kraken-backed xStocks brings tokenized US stocks to Telegram

Kraken-powered xStocks have launched on the TON blockchain, making tokenized versions of US stocks and ETFs directly available in the Telegram app via the built-in TON Wallet.

The integration allows users to buy, hold, and transfer tokenized representations of stocks like Tesla, Nvidia, and the S&P 500 ETF without leaving the messaging app.

“Embedding tokenized US stocks in Telegram Wallet is a huge UX unlocker,” Dan Dadybayo, research and strategy lead at Unstoppable Wallet, told me. Declutter. As a result, “stocks are starting to feel like their own Internet property, rather than a brokerage product,” he added.

“For many users, especially outside the US or EU, this is the first time stocks are one tap away: no brokerage account, no complex onboarding, fractional by default,” he noted.

“That said, there is a major sticking point that people underestimate: these assets are still traded 24/5, not 24/7.” While the tokenized assets “live on-chain and can technically move at any time,” prices, corporate actions and redemptions remain “anchored to U.S. market hours,” Dadybayo said. “For a crypto-native audience accustomed to having DeFi always on, weekends are effectively dead time, which breaks the mental model of seamless on-chain financing,” he opined. “In practice, this combines the limitations of TradFi with crypto UX,” one that is “powerful, but not yet fully native.”

The launch marks one of the clearest attempts yet to bring tokenized financial products to mass-market distribution channels, rather than keeping them limited to crypto-native wallets and exchanges.

The goal is to “bring tokenized equity onto a truly open infrastructure,” Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a statement.

Sethi believes that what matters is “the real promise of tokenization,” a promise that could become “neutral, composable building blocks that anyone can use.”

Telegram claims to have more than 900 million users worldwide, while TON Wallet reports nearly 100 million users, according to project figures.

xStocks, meanwhile, offers a fully collateralized, one-to-one backed product, backed by underlying equities and ETFs held through regulated partners. The tokens are designed to trade on-chain while tracking the price of the underlying assets, providing exposure without direct ownership of the shares.

However, the service is not available to US users and is limited to jurisdictions where the tokens can be legally offered, given that xStocks has not registered under the US Securities Act of 1933.

That legal structure relies on careful jurisdictional controls, which could limit how widely the distribution model can expand, especially as regulators scrutinize tokenized representations of traditional assets more closely.

Tokenized equity has been around for years, but its adoption has been limited. Previous efforts often struggled with liquidity, regulatory uncertainty, and a limited user base focused on crypto trading platforms.

By embedding tokenized assets into a consumer messaging app with a broad user base, Kraken and its partners appear to be testing whether distribution could be the missing ingredient to scale.

For Kraken, the rollout of TON fits into a broader strategy. The exchange recently announced plans to acquire Backed Finance to consolidate the issuance, trading and settlement of xStocks. Support for additional blockchains is already underway, including Mantle and TRON.