Tokenized Equities & Financial Infrastructure - Tokenized equities are becoming a foundational primitive of the next financial system, similar to how stablecoins paved the way [2] - xStocks on Ethereum aims to provide permissionless, programmable, and globally accessible equities without traditional brokerage accounts [2][3] - The goal is to create open financial infrastructure where markets are always open, custody is not an obstacle, and access is not limited by geography [4] xStocks Features & Differentiation - xStocks are fully backed equities with 1:1 reserves, issued natively onchain, and redeemable/verifiable, not synthetic representations or derivatives [3] - The Ethereum launch leverages the ERC20 standard for composability, allowing integration with various smart contracts and applications [4] Market Impact & Future Vision - The structure of financial markets is rapidly changing, with assets like stocks, bonds, currencies, and treasuries eventually residing on public blockchains [5] - Kraken has achieved over $400 million in onchain volume, $45 million in AUM, and 25,000 unique holders on Solana [6] - The vision is to build an operating system for capital, an open network where financial primitives interact seamlessly [6]

RT Kraken Pro (@krakenpro)🗓️ August ’25: Kraken Pro delivered big.🌍 Regulatory milestones🏧 Expanded funding📊 New collateral🇺🇸 Tokenized U.S. equities⚡ Passive $BTC rewardsHere’s what dropped on Kraken Pro👇 ...

14/ From treasuries to credit, and now equities.Tokenized equities are the next step in bringing real-world financial markets onchain.With ~$100T in global equity value, the long-term opportunity to anchor these assets on Ethereum is hard to overstate. ...

We’re excited to launch Chainlink Data Streams for U.S. equities & ETFs—real-time, low-latency data to power the next generation of tokenized RWA markets.https://t.co/jJ26q46eYtThese new Data Streams are being adopted by top DeFi protocols, including @GMX_IO, @KaminoFinance, & @GMX_SOL.With this update, Data Streams is now delivering robust pricing for major U.S. equities and ETFs—including SPY, CRCL, QQQ, NVDA, AAPL, MSFT, and more—with additional markets and asset classes coming soon. These Data Streams a ...

Legal & Regulatory Landscape - Tokenized equities are sparking legal battles, exemplified by the Robinhood's OpenAI private stock tokens controversy [1] - The Robinhood's OpenAI situation is just the start of a broader legal debate surrounding tokenized equities [1]

Industry Resistance - Tokenized equities are facing resistance from Citadel Securities [1] - Citadel Securities expressed its concerns in a letter to the SEC [1]

Industry Trend - Tokenized equities are expected to become widespread [1] - Tokenized equities have been mentioned in Figma's revised S-1 (page 83) [1]

Overview - Tokenized equities (xStocks) can integrate with DeFi, including lending protocols and P2P trading [2] - xStocks function similarly to cryptocurrencies [1] Regulatory and Geographic Restrictions - xStocks are unavailable in the U S or to U S persons due to geo restrictions [3]

Core Insights - Robinhood Markets, Inc. is under investigation by Lithuania's central bank regarding its newly launched tokenized equity products [1] - The scrutiny follows Robinhood's launch of its Stock Tokens product in the EU, which offers blockchain-based access to shares, including private firms [2] - Lithuania is now Robinhood's primary EU regulator after granting it a brokerage and crypto asset license [2] Regulatory Concerns - The Bank of Lithuania has requested clarifications from Robinhood about the structure of OpenAI and SpaceX stock tokens and related consumer communication [3] - Robinhood defends its tokenized products by stating they are backed by ownership interests for indirect exposure to private markets, but regulators are concerned about transparency and legality [3][7] - Robinhood's expansion into tokenized equities in the EU is expected to face a challenging compliance review, which may have broader regulatory implications [4] Historical Regulatory Issues - Robinhood has faced significant regulatory scrutiny, resulting in fines and restrictions, including a $26 million settlement with FINRA in March 2025 for failing to address misconduct red flags [5] - In January 2025, the company paid a $45 million fine for violating multiple securities law provisions, and in September 2024, it faced a $3.9 million penalty for crypto withdrawal failures [6] - Despite these challenges, Robinhood's shares have increased by 150.8%, significantly outperforming the industry's 21.1% growth this year [6]

Regulatory Scrutiny - Robinhood is in discussions with regulators regarding its tokenized equities offering in Europe [1] - The launch of tokenized equities faced criticism from companies like OpenAI [1]