Kraken Unveils Tokenized Stock Collateral for Futures and Margin Trading

Kraken, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has expanded its xStocks functionality to allow eligible non-US traders to use ten tokenized stocks and ETFs as collateral for futures and margin trading on Kraken Pro.

The move extends Kraken's product lineup beyond spot and derivatives trading into tokenized-equity collateral. The structure mirrors patterns visible in retail investing data, where traders increasingly hold assets for utility beyond simple price exposure.

The ten assets eligible at launch are SPYx, QQQx, AAPLx, GOOGLx, TSLAx, NVDAx, HOODx, MSTRx, GLDx, and CRCLx. A trader holding NVDAx can pledge that position as collateral for a leveraged trade instead of liquidating it first, improving capital efficiency for holders.

Kraken applies a different haircut and dollar cap to each asset, scaling the discount to the underlying stock's volatility. The two broad-market ETFs get the lightest treatment at a 10% haircut, while the three most volatile names get the steepest at 30%.