Solana Surges 3.215% as Kraken Launches xStocks on Blockchain

Solana's latest price was $179.56, up 3.215% in the last 24 hours. This surge in price reflects the growing interest and confidence in the Solana network, driven by several key developments and partnerships that highlight its potential in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.

One of the most notable recent announcements involves Kraken, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, which is preparing to launch a new product called xStocks. This product will allow users in select countries outside the US to trade tokenized versions of major American stocks and ETFs 24/7. The offering includes well-known companies such as Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia, with plans to expand the selection over time. The xStocks product is built in partnership with Backed and will tokenize popular US-listed assets as SPL tokens on the Solana network. Unlike conventional equity markets, xStocks will be tradable 24/7 through Kraken’s platform and compatible Solana wallets. This structure also allows the tokenized assets to be used onchain, such as for collateral in decentralized applications, use cases not possible through traditional brokerage systems. Kraken’s Global Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg emphasized that xStocks aims to offer faster, cheaper, and more inclusive access to US equities, criticizing the current systems as slow, expensive, and geographically limited. The launch of xStocks comes amid heightened interest in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), driven by demand for open financial infrastructure and the efficiencies introduced by digital rails. Kraken has not announced a specific launch date for xStocks but intends to grow the list of supported jurisdictions and tokenized assets over time.

Another significant development for Solana is the recent Accelerate conference held in New York. The event highlighted a shift in expectations within the Solana community, with some propositions about the network's technology and investment prospects that were once considered consensus now being questioned. One notable example is the muted impact of Firedancer, a Jump-developed client that was initially hailed as a game-changer. The software’s launch was expected to enable Solana to hit one million transactions per second, but a partial implementation called Frankendancer has struggled to gain adoption, with only 5% of Solana stake currently running on the client. Firedancer is launching a stake delegation program to increase its adoption. Meanwhile, another client developer, Anza, announced Alpenglow, a major overhaul of Solana’s consensus protocol that could greatly reduce Solana’s latency. This development has sparked interest within the validator community, who are now exploring the potential of Agave, the original Solana client. The conference also saw discussions about the impact of ETF approval on Solana, with some investors making significant gains by taking non-consensus bets on SOL following the FTX collapse. As the Solana network looks more consensus than before, conventional wisdom within the ecosystem is starting to be turned on its head.

In addition to these developments, Solana is also making strides in the tokenized real-world assets (RWA) space. Tokenized asset platform Centrifuge announced its expansion on the Solana blockchain, starting with the $400 million tokenized U.S. Treasury fund managed by Anemoy (JTRSY). This expansion builds on Centrifuge’s token standard, dubbed "deRWA tokens," which allows token holders to freely transfer and use tokenized instruments across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The deJTRSY token can be swapped, lent, or used as collateral, enabling Solana users to earn yield from short-term Treasuries natively in Solana DeFi platforms, first on decentralized exchange Raydium, lending platform Kamino, and yield aggregator Lulo. This rollout underscores Solana’s growing momentum in the tokenized RWA space, a sector that aims to bring traditional financial instruments like bonds, funds, and credit onto blockchain rails. Boston Consulting Group and Ripple projected that the tokenized asset market could reach $18.9 trillion by 2033. This week, the Solana Foundation partnered with bank-focused blockchain tech firm R3 to bring real-world assets to Solana, while Securitize-issued tokenized fund of Apollo credit assets is also being introduced to Solana-based DeFi protocols. These developments highlight Solana’s potential to revolutionize the financial industry by leveraging blockchain technology to create more efficient and inclusive financial systems.