Kraken Pro adds xStocks as collateral for leveraged crypto trades

Kraken has started letting eligible users use selected tokenized stocks and ETFs (“xStocks”) as margin and futures collateral on Kraken Pro. This enables leveraged crypto positions without selling the underlying holdings first. The rollout is limited to users outside the United States. Futures collateral is available in the European Economic Area (EEA), while margin collateral excludes the EEA. Kraken says xStocks are automatically recognized as collateral on accounts that support futures/margin, so users do not need to move holdings into a separate product. Risk controls include haircuts and collateral caps. Broad-market ETFs (e.g., SPYx, QQQx) get a 10% haircut with up to $1M maximum collateral value. Most tokenized individual stocks (e.g., AAPLx, GOOGLx, TSLAx, NVDAx) have a 20% haircut with a $250k cap, while higher-volatility names such as HOODx and MSTRx face a 30% haircut. Kraken also warned that leverage can still trigger margin calls or liquidation if collateral value declines. The move follows Kraken’s broader integration of tokenized traditional assets into crypto collateral and credit tooling, including earlier work bringing tokenized money-market products to the exchange and its structured institutional lending partnership with Maple. For traders, the addition of tokenized stocks collateral expands capital efficiency options, but it increases the need to monitor leverage, haircuts, and collateral volatility closely.