Company Announcements

New VCXx xStock enables global investors to gain tokenized exposure to late-stage private companies, including SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic and Databricks, through a single onchain asset

ST. HELIER, Jersey--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 27, 2026-- xStocks, the leading tokenized equities framework powered by Payward, today announced a partnership with Fundrise, the largest direct-to-consumer alternative investment platform in the U.S., to tokenize its newly launched Fundrise Innovation Fund (NYSE: VCX).

The partnership brings onchain access to a diversified portfolio of high-growth private technology companies, including SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks, through a single tokenized asset, the VCXx asset.

The VCX fund, which debuted publicly last week and has already seen strong early demand, represents one of the most compelling new avenues for accessing late-stage private markets. By bringing VCX onchain, xStocks and Fundrise are extending tokenized equities beyond public markets and into private company exposure, one of the most sought-after and historically inaccessible segments of the market.

“VCX is more than a public listing. By tokenizing this public venture fund, we are opening access for eligible investors around the world to gain exposure not only to a public vehicle, but to a portfolio with private exposure to some of the top companies in the world,” said Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward.

xStocks has rapidly emerged as the largest provider of tokenized equities, with over $25 billion in combined transaction volume and more than 100,000 unique holders globally. The platform currently supports over 100 tokenized stocks and ETFs, and is built to be multi-chain and interoperable by design, enabling assets to move seamlessly across wallets, protocols, and trading venues.

The addition of the VCX fund introduces a new category within the xStocks ecosystem, expanding beyond public equities to include tokenized access to private market portfolios onchain.

“We built VCX to act as a bridge between the public and private markets,” said Ben Miller, CEO of Fundrise. “We believe all individual investors should be able to own a piece of the best private technology companies in the world. We have long admired Kraken’s approach to breaking down barriers to the best investments and are excited to see them continue to grow their innovative xStocks platform.”

Traditionally, access to late-stage private companies has been limited to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals, often requiring significant capital commitments and long lock-up periods. By tokenizing VCX, xStocks and Fundrise are introducing a new investing model, where diversified private market exposure can be accessed, transferred, and integrated into onchain financial applications with the same flexibility as any other digital asset. The launch comes amid accelerating institutional momentum around tokenized equities. Payward, the parent company of xStocks, recently announced a partnership with Nasdaq to explore next-generation infrastructure connecting traditional equity markets with onchain systems, further bridging the gap between regulated financial markets and decentralized finance.

As a tokenized asset, VCX will integrate seamlessly across the xStocks ecosystem, unlocking use cases beyond simple exposure — including collateralization, lending, and integration into automated onchain strategies.

The tokenized VCX fund is expected to go live on xStocks, listed as VCXx, in the coming days.

What are xStocks announcing today?

• xStocks is partnering with Fundrise to tokenize its VCX fund, creating a new onchain asset called VCXx.
• This allows global investors to gain exposure to a portfolio of leading private tech companies, including SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks and others, through a single tokenized asset.

Why does this matter?

• This is one of the first times investors across the world can access diversified private company exposure onchain.
• It also expands tokenized equities beyond public stocks into private markets, making previously hard-to-access opportunities more accessible, liquid, and usable within DeFi. It’s a key step toward fully onchain capital markets.

xStocks have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any U.S. state securities laws. xStocks are not available in the United States or to U.S. persons and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United States or to U.S. persons. This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy xStocks in any jurisdiction in which the offering or sale is not permitted.

About Payward:

Payward, Inc. is a unified financial infrastructure platform that powers a family of products advancing an open, global financial system. Built on a single shared architecture, Payward enables customers to hold, trade, earn, pay, and invest across asset classes without friction or fragmentation.

At its core, Payward provides the infrastructure layer behind Kraken and a growing set of purpose-built products, including NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, and CF Benchmarks.

Payward separates infrastructure from product expression. Each product surface is designed for a specific customer segment, regulatory regime, and use case, while operating on the same global foundation:

• One global liquidity pool
• One unified risk and margin engine
• One collateral and settlement system
• One compliance and licensing framework

This shared architecture allows Payward to scale efficiently, launch new products at low marginal cost, and serve diverse global markets while maintaining consistent risk management, regulatory integrity, and operational resilience.

For more information about Payward, please visit www.payward.com.

About xStocks:

xStocks is the industry benchmark for tokenized equities, bringing publicly listed U.S. stocks and ETFs onchain through fully collateralized, 1:1-backed tokens. Powered by Payward’s digital asset infrastructure, xStocks places traditional equities on blockchain infrastructure, expanding access to U.S. capital markets with extended availability, global reach, and seamless digital-native settlement.

Designed for interoperability, xStocks move seamlessly between centralized exchanges, self-custodied wallets, and onchain applications, unlocking new utility across trading, collateralization, and decentralized finance. Since launching in June 2025, xStocks is powering billions of dollars in transaction volume across multiple blockchain ecosystems and anchors a rapidly expanding global network shaping the future of tokenized markets.

For more information, visit https://xstocks.fi.

About Fundrise:

Fundrise is the largest direct-to-consumer alternative investment platform in the U.S., having pioneered low-fee access to private-market investing for individual investors. Founded in 2012, Fundrise serves millions of users investing across real estate, private credit, and venture capital strategies. The company, headquartered in Washington, DC, has a team of technology and finance experts with deep regulatory experience, having cleared multiple public offerings with the SEC.

About the Fundrise Innovation Fund (NYSE: VCX)

The Fundrise Innovation Fund is a publicly registered, non-diversified, closed-end management investment company filed with the SEC in 2021. The Fund invests in leading private technology and AI companies, providing everyday investors access to venture capital opportunities that have historically been limited to institutional investors.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260327593834/en/

Media contacts:

Lauren Post
press@kraken.com

Source: Payward, Inc.