Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced on Wednesday that it is launching xStocks in the European Union to bypass the hurdles European investors frequently face, including excessive fees, limited access, and unnecessary complexity.

The company extended the phased global rollout of xStocks to millions of clients across the European Union, expanding on-chain exposure to many iconic U.S. stocks and ETFs.

Powered by Backed's xStocks, Kraken has enabled eligible EU-based investors to trade a growing list of tokenized representations of popular U.S.-listed equities -- all available directly through the Kraken app.

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This expansion builds on its recent phased launch, which made over 60 tokenized equities available to clients across 140+ countries to democratize investing and unlock a global, open, and accessible financial system.

"Expanding xStocks to the European Union was a natural next step for Kraken, given our dedicated growth strategy and market presence here. For too long, it's been unnecessarily challenging to gain exposure to U.S. markets, and with xStocks we're removing many of the barriers," said Mark Greenberg, Kraken's Global Head of Consumer.

xStocks empower EU-based clients to trade tokenized certificates by tracking the price of popular U.S. equities without relying on traditional brokers or intermediaries.

Now, clients can control assets and move freely across compatible platforms or to self-custody. The clients can use xStocks within DeFi protocols as composable financial building blocks.

They can access extended trading hours due to 24/5 availability on Kraken.

Kraken's initial launch introduced xStocks to many clients as Solana Program Library tokens deployed on the Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) blockchain.

The company plans to expand xStocks token support soon to include BEP-20 Ethereum Mainnet, allowing users to interact with xStocks on two of the world's fastest, most efficient blockchain ecosystems.

These chains support high-speed, low-cost transactions and are deeply integrated with the broader Web3 ecosystem.

Over time, it will continue expanding Kraken's xStocks support to additional high-impact blockchains with thriving ecosystems, including Ink, with more to come.

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