The move extends a framework that’s already scaling fast. In just over a year, xStocks have generated more than $40 billion in total trading volume. Nearly $20 billion of that volume was settled onchain, and the products now have more than 200,000 holders, Payward said.
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The agreement also means U.K.-listed shares will be able to reach an investor base across more than 110 countries via blockchain rails. However, xStocks aren’t currently available to U.K.-based investors.
Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE said it will begin listing xStocks and supporting their trading on LSE 24, its recently announced 24-hour venue, eventually spanning tokenized equities from the U.S., EU, U.K. and Hong Kong, alongside additional asset classes as the framework expands.
The two companies also said they’ll explore natively LSE-issued equity tokens, letting LSE members issue and service shares onchain directly, with full fungibility and the same rights as traditional stock.
“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,” said Arjun Sethi, Payward’s co-CEO, in a statement.
