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London Stock Exchange, Payward Plan Tokenized UK Share Rollout
xStocks partnership pairs blockchain distribution with regulated market infrastructure
TL;DR
- The London Stock Exchange and Payward plan to bring tokenized versions of major UK-listed equities to Payward’s xStocks framework.
- The initial xStocks rollout is separate from direct London Stock Exchange trading, which remains subject to regulatory approval.
- The companies also plan to explore LSE-issued onchain equities carrying the same rights as traditional shares.
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The London Stock Exchange and Payward, Kraken’s parent company, announced on September 1, 2026, a partnership to bring tokenized versions of the 100 largest LSE-listed companies onto Payward’s xStocks framework, with the first products expected in the coming weeks. The initial rollout will create 1:1-backed representations of underlying shares, while direct listing and trading through the London Stock Exchange’s planned LSE 24 venue will require regulatory approval.
The xStocks products are designed to track their underlying equities while operating across centralized exchanges, self-custody wallets and onchain applications. They can trade 24/7 rather than being limited to conventional equity-market hours. A traditional brokerage-held share clears through intermediaries and can take days to complete settlement, while its tokenized counterpart can move directly into a self-custodied wallet or decentralized-finance application while continuing to track the same underlying share price.
The project follows a tokenization shift that has been developing across public markets for at least two years. The model has been applied to real-world assets including equities, bonds and commodities, creating blockchain-based representations that can move through digital-asset infrastructure more freely than securities held solely through conventional brokerage channels.
xStocks Targets Global Distribution
Payward said the planned UK equity products could become accessible through supporting platforms across more than 110 countries or markets. That distribution does not extend universally: xStocks are currently unavailable to UK-based investors, are not registered under the US Securities Act and are unavailable to US persons.
Payward also said its existing xStocks framework has already reached substantial trading and adoption levels.
The two onchain-settlement figures appear separately in the supplied information and are therefore retained as stated rather than reconciled into a single figure.
LSE 24 Would Mark a Second Phase
Subject to regulatory approval, the London Stock Exchange said it intends to list xStocks and support trading through LSE 24, its recently announced round-the-clock venue. As the framework expands, the venue could eventually include tokenized equities originating from the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Hong Kong, alongside additional asset classes.
The companies also plan to explore equity tokens issued natively through London Stock Exchange infrastructure. Under that model, LSE members could issue and service shares directly onchain, with the tokens intended to be fully fungible and carry the same rights as traditional stock. That would differ from a downstream tokenized wrapper by placing the blockchain-based instrument directly within the exchange’s issuance and servicing infrastructure.
LSE plc CEO Julia Hoggett emphasized that the technological shift must retain the protections associated with regulated securities markets. Tokenization, Hoggett said, “must develop in a way that preserves the trust, rights and role of regulated markets.”
The partnership combines Payward’s tokenization framework with established exchange infrastructure governing securities issuance, ownership, investor rights and settlement. The structure is intended to connect blockchain-based distribution with regulated-market functions rather than move the underlying public companies away from their London listings.
Payward co-CEO Arjun Sethi framed the agreement as a convergence between digital assets and established finance. “For years, the assumption was that crypto and traditional finance were on a collision course, and one of them would have to lose. That was never the real story,” Sethi said.
Tokenized Assets Could Extend Beyond Trading
Industry participants are also examining whether tokenized securities can be used as productive collateral, potentially supporting liquidity and credit creation in a manner comparable with the role Treasuries play in traditional finance. That potential use case is separate from the confirmed features of the London Stock Exchange-Payward rollout.
The partnership also carries market-structure risks identified in the supplied information. Regulatory approval, jurisdictional restrictions, custody arrangements, liquidity across venues and the enforceability of shareholder rights could affect how broadly the model develops. Continuous token trading may improve portability, but liquidity can become fragmented while the underlying London market is closed and conventional price discovery is thinner.
London Stock Exchange Group shares fell 2% in early London trading alongside the announcement. The supplied information does not attribute that decline directly to the tokenization partnership.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
