Ledger partners with Payward to enable cold storage for tokenized stocks

Ledger, the French hardware wallet maker best known for keeping Bitcoin safe on thumb-drive-sized devices, is expanding into a different asset class entirely. The company has partnered with Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, to bring cold storage security to tokenized equities traded on Kraken’s xStocks platform. The integration means Ledger device owners will be able to sign xStocks transactions directly on Kraken’s platform, keeping their private keys offline while trading tokenized versions of real stocks. What the partnership actually does Ledger’s Device Management Kit will handle funding and withdrawals for xStocks, with Clear Signing support baked in. Clear Signing lets users verify exactly what they’re approving on their Ledger screen before confirming a transaction. The xStocks platform itself offers tokenized versions of US and international equities, each backed 1:1 by tracker certificates issued by Backed Assets (JE) Limited. These tokens are pegged to real equity value, though with limited redeemability for the underlying assets. Trading is available 24/5 for most assets, with select tokens offering 24/7 availability depending on the underlying stoc...