Tokenized Equities

Wells Fargo is in discussions with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, about using the firm as a crypto liquidity provider. The talks highlight how major banks are increasingly working with established digital asset companies as regulatory conditions become more constructive.

BNY is in talks with Payward, the parent company of Kraken, over a potential partnership that could span digital assets, custody, trading, payments and wealth management. The discussions remain ongoing, with no guarantee that the two companies will reach a final agreement.

OKX executive Haider Rafique is skeptical the Clarity Act can clear Congress this year, arguing partisan incentives may overpower the crypto industry’s push for regulatory clarity. He also says bitcoin may have limited upside if the bill passes but could face sharper pressure if it fails.

Fun CEO Alex Fine says standalone crypto onramps and bridge interfaces are likely to disappear as applications embed payments into their own products. The shift would move Web3 closer to a Web2 style experience, where users focus on the app action rather than the payment plumbing underneath.

Tokenized stock and ETF trading climbed to a record $11.3 billion in July, rising 288% as demand concentrated heavily in Binance’s QQQB token. Excluding QQQB, tokenized-equity volume was roughly $2.03 billion, about 30% below June’s implied total.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is leading a new joint venture between OKX and Intercontinental Exchange to build infrastructure connecting traditional finance and digital assets. The project could give OKX users access to ICE futures and NYSE tokenized equities, pending regulatory approval.