Quick summary
xStocks are tokenized assets that mirror the price of a chosen stock or ETF. Important: holding an xStock does not make you a shareholder of the company — it is purely price exposure, not ownership of an actual security.
Each xStocks token is backed by a real share 1:1. For example, when you buy AAPLx (a tokenized Apple share), the issuer/custodian holds one real Apple share against it.
Earlier attempts at this concept appeared at Binance and the now-infamous FTX. Today's iteration looks more carefully designed, with regulatory coordination — but the counterparty risk does not disappear: the token still depends on the issuer's infrastructure and on the platform you bought it from. In my view the risks are smaller than dealing with something like SPB Exchange, but they are still present.
Where to buy xStocks
1) Telegram — the official @wallet bot
You can buy them inside Telegram — through the official @wallet bot. Top up the wallet with crypto and you can start buying stocks and ETFs.
At the time of writing I have access to 55 US shares (Tesla, NVIDIA, Apple etc.) and 8 ETFs. Surprise: TQQQ is on the list.
And here is what the wallet looks like once you have positions:
Buy/sell flow is straightforward. Things to keep in mind:
- Fees are high — up to 1% per trade per side.
- Outside exchange hours, quotes can drift away from reality — cross-check the price somewhere outside Telegram.
- Liquidity may be thin.
2) Bybit (centralized exchange)
Bybit lists xStocks in regular spot trading. The flow is the same as for crypto: deposit USDT, place a market or limit order. Fees here are noticeably lower than the Telegram wallet — usually well under 0.1%.
Dividends
Issuers usually pay through, with a delay, in stablecoins. In Telegram Wallet I have seen dividends arrive in USDT.
My take
For someone in a jurisdiction where direct access to US brokers is hard, xStocks are a reasonable workaround for getting price exposure to global equities. The setup is fast, the asset list keeps growing, and dividends do flow through.
For long-term holdings I'd still pick a direct broker (Interactive Brokers etc.) over a wrapper. xStocks are a useful complement, not a replacement.