Kraken rolls out round-the-clock perps for gold, major indexes and stocks like Apple, Nvidia and Tesla

Kraken is rolling out 24/7 trading for a range of tokenized equity perpetual futures contracts using xStocks, the technology platform it acquired earlier this year.

The offering will seemingly kick off with 10 perps contracts, including derivatives tracking gold, the S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 indexes, and popular stocks for Nvidia, Apple, Google, Tesla, Robinhood, as well as crypto native firms Strategy and Circle Internet Group.

These xStocks perps provide eligible non-U.S. clients in over 110 countries with round-the-clock tokenized equities exposure, the firm said. xStocks are fully collateralized and backed one-to-one by the contract’s underlying assets.

"This is what it looks like when traditional markets are rebuilt for a crypto-native, always-on world, not a moment too soon given the volatility that all markets are exhibiting," Kraken Global Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg said in a release. "Regulated tokenized equities as perpetual futures represent a new chapter for global capital markets, one where equities, indices, and commodities trade with the same speed, accessibility, and flexibility as crypto via tokenization, delivering a more robust risk management experience."

Kraken has been at the forefront of expanding tokenization optionality and derivatives trading, as firms set their sights on providing 24/7 access to markets that typically face timing restrictions. While some firms like BitMEX and Lighter have been first to market with 24/7 Equity Perps, often involving blue chip stocks like Amazon, Coinbase, and the like, Kraken notes its perps follow "regulated benchmarks."

Although Kraken's announcement on Tuesday does not name the firm, the exchange has a relationship with CME Group, the largest traditional derivatives exchange in the world. CME's derivatives contracts power Kraken’s offerings "from equity indices to energy, metals, FX and more," a company representative previously told The Block.

Earlier this month, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the firm finalized its acquisition of Backed, the creator of the xStocks tokenization framework, while reporting the firm’s 2025 adjusted revenue of $2.2 billion. Kraken is looking to grow into an all-in-one trading environment, not unlike Robinhood, as it pursues a public listing.

In November, Kraken filed for a confidential IPO registration after raising capital at a $20 billion valuation. KRAKacquisition, a Kraken-linked special purpose acquisition company, raised an upsized $345 million IPO and listed on Nasdaq in January.

Editor's note (Feb 24): Kraken's acquisition of Backed has been finalized.