Payward and LSE Partner to Tokenize Major UK Stocks
The 100 largest London-listed companies are set to become available as xStocks, with the LSE also exploring regulated trading and native onchain equity issuance.
Payward is expanding its tokenized equities business into the UK market through a partnership with the London Stock Exchange, bringing tokenized representations of major British stocks closer to regulated market infrastructure.
The companies announced the partnership on Sept. 1, with the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange expected to become available as xStocks in the coming weeks. The initial tokens are set to launch through Kraken and other platforms participating in the xStocks Alliance.
The collaboration will also examine how onchain distribution can work alongside established market infrastructure as tokenized equities expand beyond crypto-native trading platforms.
xStocks to Bring London Equities Onchain
The upcoming London-listed xStocks will be fully collateralized, 1:1-backed representations of their underlying shares. Payward said they will be accessible to investors in more than 110 countries, although they will not initially be available to UK-based investors.
Subject to regulatory approval, the London Stock Exchange also intends to list and support trading of xStocks through LSE 24, its recently announced extended-hours trading venue.
LSE 24 is expected to operate from 5 p.m. until 7:50 a.m. Monday through Friday, with a 30-minute interruption for end-of-day processing. That infrastructure could give eligible market participants access to tokenized equities outside conventional exchange trading hours.
Julia Hoggett, CEO of LSE plc and Head of Digital and Securities Markets at London Stock Exchange Group, said the collaboration is intended to explore new forms of market access without abandoning existing public-market standards.
“By working with Payward, and continuing to collaborate across the market infrastructure ecosystem, we are exploring how issuers and investors can benefit from new forms of access while maintaining the standards that underpin public markets.”
Payward said the broader offering is expected to include tokenized equities from the US, Europe, UK and Hong Kong, as well as other asset classes available to LSE members through the venue.
Partnership Could Extend to Native Equity Tokens
The collaboration goes beyond trading blockchain representations of existing securities.
Payward and the LSE also plan to explore native equity tokens issued through LSE infrastructure, with the same rights as conventional shares and full fungibility with them.
Such a model would represent a deeper integration of blockchain technology into traditional capital markets. Instead of creating a token backed by a separately held security, shares could eventually be issued and serviced directly through infrastructure incorporating blockchain rails.
Tokenized assets can also move beyond conventional brokerage environments. xStocks are designed to operate across centralized exchanges, self-custody wallets and onchain applications, potentially allowing equities to interact with digital-asset infrastructure and decentralized finance.
Payward Expands xStocks Across Global Markets
The LSE partnership follows a series of international expansions for Payward’s tokenized equities framework.
xStocks launched in June 2025 and was acquired by Payward in December that year. Since its debut, the platform has recorded more than $40 billion in total volume across over 200,000 holders, including nearly $20 billion settled onchain, according to Payward.
In July, the company partnered with GTN to expand xStocks across Hong Kong, the UK, Europe and South Korea using GTN’s execution and custody network covering more than 90 markets.
Kraken also expanded its traditional securities offering in August, launching US stock trading alongside xStocks for customers in the European Economic Area through its Cyprus-regulated entity.
Payward’s broader business reported $508 million in adjusted revenue for the second quarter, while total transaction volume across its platforms reached $310 billion.
Tokenized Equities Gain Institutional Ground
The tokenized equity market remains small compared with conventional global stock markets but has continued to develop as crypto firms and financial institutions build infrastructure around real-world assets.
According to RWA.xyz data at the time of writing, approximately $2.6 billion of equities have been tokenized. xStocks accounted for roughly $620 million of that total, making it the second-largest issuer behind Ondo at approximately $856 million.
The significance of the Payward-LSE partnership extends beyond adding another group of stocks to a tokenization platform. It creates a potential bridge between regulated public-market infrastructure and onchain ownership, settlement and distribution.
If the collaboration progresses as planned and receives the necessary regulatory approvals, the LSE could support not only extended-hours trading of tokenized representations of existing shares but eventually equities issued natively through its own infrastructure. That would move tokenization further from a crypto-specific product toward integration with the systems underpinning established global capital markets.
Learn More with CryptoPulse.News
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