Payward Services’ xStocks framework will give Kraken customers and those of select xStocks Alliance members the ability to participate in tokenized US-listed IPOs at the offering price, opening a corner of capital markets historically reserved for institutional investors
Payward, the parent company of global crypto platform Kraken and developer of the xStocks tokenized equities framework, will soon enable retail investors across the world to participate in US-listed initial public offerings (IPO) at the IPO price. Customers of select xStocks Alliance members, including Kraken and others, will be able to express interest in a US-listed IPO before the company goes public, then receive an allocation of tokenized equity at the offering price on listing day.
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IPO access has long been one of the most exclusive corners of global capital markets. After a high-profile company files to go public, allocations at the offering price are typically reserved for institutional investors, private banking clients, and select regional platforms with established underwriter relationships. For retail investors, options narrow sharply. In some geographies, the option to participate in a foreign listing simply doesn’t exist, leaving investors locked out of some of the most consequential moments in public markets entirely. In others, retail investors can only buy after the stock begins trading on the open market, by which point the price has often moved well above the level at which institutional participants secured their allocations. Payward Services’ xStocks infrastructure changes that.
Through the IPO access process, partner exchanges will open an indication of interest window in the weeks leading up to a listing, during which their customers can submit non-binding offers to buy within the company’s indicated price range. Payward Services will aggregate that demand and work with an underwriting syndicate on behalf of all xStocks Alliance partners. On the public listing day, allocations are finalized and IPO shares are tokenized, backed 1:1 by the underlying share, held in custody by a regulated entity, then distributed to eligible customers at the IPO price through the exchange they already use. Investors receive their allocation at similar offering prices as institutional participants, not at a market price that has already moved.
“Going public should mean public to everyone. For decades, getting in at the IPO price has been a privilege of geography and net worth, and the most exciting moments in capital markets have been reserved for the investors closest to them. That worldview is breaking down,” said Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Payward Services. “Now a retail investor in Medellín, Madrid, or Malaysia can have similar access to a US-listed IPO, and Payward Services’ xStocks infrastructure is finally making that possible for the masses.”
The capability is built on xStocks, the industry-leading tokenized equities framework developed by Payward Services, designed to make exposure to real-world equity accessible, programmable, and portable across the global crypto ecosystem. Every xStocks tokenized equity is backed 1:1 by the underlying share, held in custody by a regulated entity, giving investors direct financial exposure to the companies they believe in without the friction of traditional brokerage infrastructure. xStocks tokens are blockchain agnostic, interoperable across chains, composable with DeFi protocols, and accessible through any platform in the xStocks Alliance, meaning the asset moves with the investor rather than being locked to a single venue. In its first year, the framework has processed over $30 billion in total transaction volume, with more than $6 billion settled onchain, across more than 125,000 unique holders globally.
For xStocks Alliance partners, IPO access represents a significant step-change in what a crypto exchange can offer its customer base. Participation in highly anticipated public offerings, at the offering price, through a compliant and seamless process, is the kind of product that drives user acquisition, deepens engagement, and positions a platform as a serious venue for equity investment beyond crypto trading.
The first tokenized IPOs powered by Payward Services’ xStocks framework will be available in the coming weeks to customers of Kraken and other xStocks Alliance members. Payward plans to expand the offering to new markets and to bring on additional xStocks Alliance launch partners in the months ahead.
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