Kraken parent Payward plans to offer tokenized IPO access as investors await blockbuster debuts
Payward aims to give retail investors access to IPO shares at the offering price through tokenized equities.
What to know:
- Payward, the parent of crypto exchange Kraken, plans to let retail investors buy into U.S.-listed IPOs at the same offering price as institutional investors through tokenized shares.
- Under the xStocks framework, IPO allocations will be aggregated across participating platforms, with tokenized shares backed one-for-one by underlying stock held by a regulated custodian.
- The initiative aims to use blockchain-based tokenization to broaden access to capital markets.
The first tokenized IPO offerings are expected to become available through Kraken and other xStocks Alliance members in the coming weeks, the firm said.
The launch comes as investors await a new crop of high-profile public offerings. SpaceX and AI startups Anthropic and OpenAI are among the companies widely viewed as potential IPO candidates in the coming months, fueling demand for access to deals that have traditionally been dominated by institutional investors, private banks and wealthy clients.
Under Payward’s model, investors would submit non-binding indications of interest before an IPO. The company would aggregate demand across participating exchanges and work with underwriting syndicates to secure allocations. Once a company lists, shares would be tokenized, backed one-for-one by the underlying stock held by a regulated custodian and distributed to investors through participating platforms.
