Binance has quietly opened the door for traders outside the United States to buy and sell US stocks through tokenized versions of the shares, combined with perpetual futures contracts. The move, confirmed by the exchange this week, lets users access companies like Apple, Tesla, and Amazon without stepping onto a traditional stock exchange.
How the Tokenized Stocks Work
Binance issues digital tokens that track the price of a specific US stock. Each token represents a fraction of a share, allowing users to trade in small amounts. The exchange maintains a reserve of actual shares or derivative positions to back the tokens, but the system operates entirely on Binance's platform — no brokerage account or US regulatory oversight is required.
The tokens can be bought and sold around the clock, unlike regular stock markets that close after the bell. Binance says the pricing is pegged to real-time market data, though the exact mechanism for keeping the token price in line with the underlying stock is not fully disclosed.
Perpetual Contracts Add a Leverage Twist
Alongside the tokens, Binance offers perpetual futures contracts tied to the same stocks. These contracts never expire, so traders can hold a leveraged position as long as they maintain the margin. The exchange lists multiple leverage levels for each stock, up to 10x or more depending on the asset.
Perpetuals are common in crypto but rare for traditional equities. By pairing tokenized stocks with perpetuals, Binance gives non-US users a way to bet on price movements — both long and short — without owning the underlying shares. That introduces a derivatives layer that most retail brokers do not offer for individual stocks.
Who Can Trade and What the Limits Are
The service is available to Binance customers outside the United States, as the exchange restricts US users from its main platform. KYC verification is still required, and Binance enforces country-level blocks in jurisdictions where it lacks licenses. The company did not name specific countries where the product is banned, but users in the UK, Canada, and parts of Asia have reported seeing the feature in their accounts.
Binance has not launched tokenized stocks in the US and likely will not, given the SEC's stance on crypto products tied to securities. The exchange has faced regulatory scrutiny globally over its offerings, and this new product could draw fresh attention from watchdogs concerned about unregistered securities trading.
The tokenized stocks and perpetual contracts are live now on the Binance exchange. The company has not announced any plans to expand the list of available stocks or add other markets.
