Binance Expands to Options Trading on Over 1,000 US Stocks and ETFs

Key Highlights

• Binance introduces physically settled options contracts covering over 1,000 American stocks and exchange-traded funds for qualified international clients
• Trade execution flows from Nest Trading in Abu Dhabi to Alpaca Securities for processing and safekeeping
• Traditional finance perpetual futures volume on the platform surged to $433 billion last month from $29.5 billion at year’s start
• Market capitalization of tokenized equity instruments has expanded to $2.6 billion from $346 million over 12 months
• Competing platforms including Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood have similarly broadened stock trading access for global customers

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume is extending its traditional finance product suite with options contracts on over 1,000 American equities and ETFs. This service targets qualified customers residing outside United States borders.

Trade facilitation occurs through Nest Trading Limited, Binance’s brokerage entity operating under Abu Dhabi Global Market regulatory oversight. Nest functions as the introducing broker, channeling order flow to Alpaca Securities, a US-registered financial institution responsible for trade execution, clearing operations, settlement procedures, and asset custody.

These derivatives contracts feature physical settlement. When exercised, holders receive or surrender the actual equity shares rather than receiving a cash-equivalent payment.

Retail traders approved for options privileges can purchase both call and put contracts. Risk exposure caps at the initial premium payment. The exchange indicated plans to expand its options catalog progressively.

Traditional Finance Trading Volume Explodes

This options rollout complements Binance’s current equity infrastructure, which already provides international access to more than 7,000 American-listed stocks and ETFs introduced during June.

Traditional finance perpetual futures trading volume on the platform hit $433.4 billion last month. This represents a dramatic increase from January’s $29.5 billion figure—approximately 15-fold growth.

Stock-linked perpetual contracts powered the majority of this expansion. These instruments generated $342.9 billion in August trading activity, compared to merely $410.9 million in January, representing roughly 79% of aggregate TradFi volume.

Bybit plans to join this competitive landscape. The platform will introduce continuous options on stock perpetuals September 17, beginning with SpaceX and Nvidia. Diverging from Binance’s approach, Bybit’s products will settle in USDT stablecoin and reference stock perpetuals instead of actual shares.

Tokenized Equity Market Gains Momentum

Cryptocurrency platforms aren’t alone in this migration. The tokenized stock sector has experienced substantial expansion during the previous 12 months.

Tokenized equity instruments currently represent approximately $2.6 billion in distributed market value, climbing from roughly $346 million one year earlier, per RWA.xyz data. Monthly transfer activity jumped 93% during the last 30-day period to $25.1 billion, while participant count increased 157% to approach 2.5 million holders.

Coinbase deployed its tokenized stock product on the Base blockchain recently, granting eligible international customers continuous access to blockchain-based representations of companies including Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Alphabet.

Kraken enabled trading access to over 7,000 American-listed equities for qualified European clients in August, integrating them with its existing xStocks tokenized offerings.

Robinhood introduced Robinhood Chain in July, accompanied by Stock Tokens accessible to eligible participants across more than 120 nations.

Binance characterized the options expansion as advancing its objective to develop a comprehensive multi-asset trading platform, delivering international clients capabilities historically confined to conventional brokerage services.