The London Stock Exchange is planning to allow traders to buy and sell tokenized stocks in its 24-hour trading venue, as the bourse doubles down on its push into digital assets.

In a partnership with Payward, the owner of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, the LSE will exploredigital representations of U.K. stocks. Together, the pair will build on the LSE's work in developing a market structure that would give owners of blockchain-based tokens the same rights as traditional shareholders.

The move is designed to broaden access to capital markets, the LSE said Tuesday, and comes as the exchange fights to grow its relevance amid declining public listings and increased retail and institutional interest in crypto.

Tokenization refers to the use of blockchain-based tokens to represent shares in public companies, rather than traditional stock ownership routed through conventional brokers. Advocates of tokenization point to near-instant trade settlement and round-the-clock trading availability.

Tokenized trading will also support traded companies seeking innovative ways to reach investors, while also easing the movement of assets between different corners of the market and minimizing "isolated pools of liquidity," the exchange said.

"Tokenization has the potential to change how investors access, and how issuers use, financial markets, but it must develop in a way that preserves the trust, rights and role of regulated markets," said LSE Chief Executive Julia Hoggett.

Separately, "xStocks"--tokens that are one-to-one backed by listed equities but don't have voting rights--will begin trading on the recently announced LSE 24 exchange in 2027, as long as regulators don't object.

In July, the LSE announced plans to launch LSE 24, an exchange that will run 24 hours a day, five days a week. It is scheduled to be available for testing at the end of 2026.