Payward Services to Unlock Pre-IPO Access to Bending Spoons Through xStocks

One of the year's most anticipated tech IPOs opens to customers in over 110 countries. Customers of Kraken and select xStocks partners, such as Wallet in Telegram and others, can register a non-binding indication of interest ahead of the Nasdaq listing, with BSPx tokenized on listing day for around-the-clock trading.

ST. HELIER, Jersey--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Payward Services, the B2B infrastructure platform from Payward, the company behind global crypto platform Kraken, today opened pre-IPO access to Bending Spoons S.p.A (BSP), the Italian technology company behind WeTransfer, Evernote, Vimeo, AOL and Eventbrite. Eligible customers of Kraken, Wallet in Telegram and other supporting xStocks Alliance partners in over 110 countries, including the European Economic Area, can now register a non-binding indication of interest to participate in the IPO process ahead of the Nasdaq listing. Bending Spoons is the second offering in a growing Pre-IPO Access pipeline made possible by Payward Services' xStocks offering, following the debut tokenized SpaceX offering earlier this month.

For most retail investors outside the US, IPOs have been out of reach, with access gated by geography or wealth. They can usually only buy once a stock is trading openly, often well above the price institutions paid for their allocations. Payward Services' xStocks infrastructure is built to change that, opening primary-market access to a global audience.

The indication of interest window opens on Kraken and other xStocks Alliance partners today. During the window before public listing, customers can indicate how much they wish to buy within Bending Spoons' indicated price range. Funds associated with non-binding indications of interest are reserved, not charged, until the final allocation is secured and ready for distribution. Payward Services then aggregates demand across xStocks Alliance partners and works with an underwriting syndicate to secure an allocation of the underlying shares, which back the tokenized Bending Spoons asset (BSPx) 1:1 and will be distributed on the day of public listing. All allocation decisions rest with Bending Spoons and its underwriters, and pre-IPO access allocation is not guaranteed by Payward Services.

"For decades, the best IPOs were tilted in favor of those with the right address or the right bank. Pre-IPO Access via xStocks tears that down,” said Mark Greenberg, Global Head of Payward Services. "Whether you're a first-time investor or a seasoned professional, you should have the opportunity to participate in the companies shaping the future. Bending Spoons is the next proof point that the playing field is becoming more level.”

Bending Spoons S.p.A. is a Milan-based technology company that acquires digital businesses and optimizes their operations with the aim of improving profitability. Its portfolio includes well-known consumer brands such as AOL, Evernote, Vimeo, Eventbrite, WeTransfer and StreamYard, spanning more than 50 products used by around 500 million people each month. The company has filed to go public on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker BSP.

Every xStock is backed 1:1 by the underlying share and held in custody by a regulated entity. Unlike traditional brokerage accounts, xStocks assets can move with the investor across participating xStocks Alliance platforms, be transferred on-chain, and integrate with compatible DeFi applications, helping create a capital market that is global, always-on, and accessible by design.

Payward Services will open more Pre-IPO Access offerings to xStocks Alliance members in the coming months. Geographic restrictions apply. To learn more about Pre-IPO access and Payward Services, visit https://www.payward.com/payward-services.

About Payward Services:

Payward Services is the B2B infrastructure platform built on 15 years of operating Kraken, one of the world's largest crypto platforms. Through a single integration, partners can access crypto and tokenized equity trading, fiat and stablecoin payments, yield, lending, prediction markets and derivatives. Fintechs, banks, brokerages, payment providers, exchanges, consumer tech platforms and asset managers can use Payward Services to offer digital assets to their clients without building the stack themselves.

Liquidity, custody, payments, compliance, risk and settlement are integrated by design, replacing fragmented multi-vendor stacks with a single regulated foundation. Partners build on the same infrastructure that powers Payward's family of products, deployed as modular services they can scale alongside their own.

For more information, visit https://www.payward.com/payward-services.

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 provides exposure to 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.