Binance is expanding further into traditional finance by launching options trading on more than 1,000 US stocks and exchange-traded funds for eligible users outside the United States.
The options will be offered through Binance’s Abu Dhabi-regulated broker-dealer, Nest Trading, with orders routed to US-registered Alpaca Securities for execution, clearing, settlement and custody.
The launch builds on Binance’s existing equities offering of more than 7,000 US stocks and ETFs and adds to a growing lineup of traditional financial products available through the platform.
Unlike equity-linked perpetual futures, the options are physically settled, meaning users who exercise them receive or deliver the underlying shares.
According to Binance, the expansion comes as trading in traditional financial products on the platform has accelerated, with TradFi perpetual futures volume reaching about $433 billion in August, roughly 15 times January’s total.
Related: Binance says employees questioned in UAE cleared and released
Tokenized stock market surges as exchanges expand offerings
As crypto exchanges and traditional brokerages expand into tokenized equities, the onchain stock market has expanded sharply over the past year.
Tokenized stocks now have about $2.6 billion in distributed value, up from roughly $346 million at the same time last year, according to RWA.xyz data. Monthly transfer volume has also climbed 93% over the past 30 days to $25.1 billion, while the number of holders has surged 157% to nearly 2.5 million.
The value of tokenized stocks. Source: RWA.xyz
Last week, Coinbase brought its B20 tokenized equities to Base, giving eligible non-US users 24/7 access to onchain versions of stocks including Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet. The assets can also be integrated into DeFi protocols for uses such as trading and collateralized borrowing.
Kraken also pushed deeper into equities in August, opening access to more than 7,000 US-listed stocks for eligible European customers and placing them alongside its growing lineup of tokenized xStocks.
In July, US online brokerage Robinhood launched Robinhood Chain alongside a new generation of Stock Tokens available to eligible users in more than 120 countries.
