Binance is now offering U.S. stock trading with zero commissions and fractional shares, the exchange announced this week. It's also previewing tokenized equities that blend traditional stocks with blockchain settlement. The move puts the world's largest crypto exchange in direct competition with mainstream brokerages like Robinhood and Schwab.
What's on offer
Customers can buy and sell U.S. stocks without paying a per-trade fee. Fractional shares mean you don't need to own a full share of a company like Apple or Amazon — you can invest as little as a few dollars. The feature is live now in supported regions.
Separately, Binance is showing off a tokenized equities product. These are blockchain-based representations of stock that aim to settle trades faster and reduce counterparty risk. The exchange says the tokens are pegged to the underlying stock price and can be traded on Binance's platform alongside crypto assets.
Why Binance is pushing into stocks
Binance has spent years building out its crypto services, but growth in pure crypto trading has slowed as markets mature. Offering stocks — and tokenized versions of them — lets the exchange capture users who want a single dashboard for both traditional and digital assets. Zero commissions also put pressure on incumbents that still charge fees or require high minimums.
It's not the first crypto exchange to try this. Coinbase and Kraken have experimented with tokenized stocks, but Binance's scale — tens of millions of users — makes it a bigger threat to traditional brokers.
The blockchain angle
Tokenized equities aren't new, but Binance's version ties directly into its existing crypto infrastructure. Each token is issued on a blockchain Binance controls, meaning settlement happens in minutes rather than days. The preview suggests the exchange sees this as a long-term product, though it hasn't set a launch date for full availability.
For now, customers can trade regular U.S. stocks commission-free. The tokenized offer remains in testing, with no word on when it'll roll out broadly or which regulators have signed off. That's the next thing to watch — whether U.S. regulators treat the tokens as securities. Binance didn't comment on the regulatory status.
