Tokenized stocks, once a niche corner of the crypto industry, have grown into a $13.7 billion market — and trading activity is heavily concentrated in two products. Binance's bStocks and Kraken's xStocks together accounted for 70.1% of all DEX trading volume in tokenized equities, combining for $9.6 billion of the $13.7 billion in total activity. The split between the two platforms, however, is far from even.

bStocks' rapid ascent

Binance launched bStocks on June 11, 2026 — its second attempt at the product after discontinuing its 2021 stock tokens in July of that year amid regulatory scrutiny that included questions from Germany's BaFin over whether the tokens required a securities prospectus. Within 15 days, the product had reached $100 million in assets under management. By early August, bStocks' AUM had climbed to roughly $624 million, overtaking Kraken's xStocks, which stood in the $579 million to $601 million range — despite xStocks having launched more than a year earlier, in June 2025, through a partnership with Swiss tokenization firm Backed and an initial rollout aimed at customers outside the United States.

In July 2026 alone, bStocks generated $7.4 billion in DEX trading volume, representing about 85% of all decentralized tokenized stock trading that month. Monthly volume across the segment surged from $2.9 billion to $8.8 billion over the same period.

Broader figures point to an even more concentrated picture: bStocks reportedly drove $19.9 billion of a $22.89 billion monthly total across all tokenized equity trading venues.

Weekend trading volumes alone have hit $2 billion, underscoring one of the product's core selling points. Traditional stock markets close on Friday afternoon and do not reopen until Monday morning; tokenized stocks trade around the clock.

How the tokens work

bStocks are blockchain-based tokens backed 1:1 by actual US shares held at regulated custodians. Buying a tokenized Apple share through bStocks means a real Apple share sits in a custodial account backing the token, and users can convert freely between the token and the underlying share on Binance.

Kraken's xStocks operates on a similar model, with 1:1-backed tokens available on the Solana blockchain alongside other chains. Both products allow users to trade equities around the clock, access fractional shares, and use stock exposure as collateral when interacting with DeFi protocols. That places them within a broader industry push to bring real-world assets on-chain, a category that already includes tokenized money-market funds such as BlackRock's BUIDL.

Binance operates bStocks under a regulated framework based in Abu Dhabi.

Distribution as a driving factor

Binance remains the largest crypto exchange by trading volume globally, and bStocks benefits directly from that existing user base. Reaching $100 million in 15 days and $624 million within two months does not happen through organic discovery alone; it happens when millions of existing users gain a new option in their interface. Distribution is drawing in brokerage-side incumbents as well: Robinhood rolled out tokenized stocks to EU customers in 2025, and Coinbase has said it intends to offer tokenized securities where regulations allow.

The 85% volume share recorded in July illustrates how concentrated activity can reinforce itself in a two-sided market: more volume attracts more traders, which in turn generates more volume. How regulators treat the category as it scales is the clearest variable to watch; the 2021 products were discontinued amid regulatory scrutiny, giving this second attempt a directly relevant precedent.