Binance Leads TradFi Perpetuals as Tokenized Markets Expand

Binance has become the dominant venue for equity perpetual contracts, derivatives data shows. The exchange now handles more volume in tokenized single-stock futures than any other crypto platform. The contracts track shares of companies such as Apple and Tesla without requiring users to hold the underlying stock, offering 24/7 settlement cycles that traditional equity markets do not provide.

The product is a small slice of crypto derivatives, which remain dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Yet the growth in stock-linked perpetuals points to a shift in who uses these venues, a derivatives researcher tracking the sector said.

"Binance has the liquidity, so it gets the flow," the researcher said. The demand comes from retail traders seeking after-hours access to single stocks and small hedge funds testing tokenized infrastructure.

Binance listed equity perpetuals in 2021, ahead of most rivals. It now offers contracts on more than 30 U.S. stocks, including Nvidia and Meta. The contracts use a funding-rate mechanism similar to crypto perpetuals. The funding rate acts as a carrying cost. When positive, long positions pay shorts; when negative, shorts pay longs. For equity perpetuals, that rate tends to track the cost of borrowing the stock in the traditional securities lending market, plus a crypto-specific premium, market makers said.

"The funding rate on Apple perpetuals often runs higher than the stock loan cost in TradFi," one market maker said. "That premium is the cost of 24/7 access and instant settlement."

The growth of these contracts follows a broader push to put real-world assets on blockchains. BlackRock and Franklin Templeton, among others, have launched tokenized money market funds. Equities represent the next frontier, with several projects building infrastructure for onchain share issuance and trading. The equity perpetual market is the most liquid example so far.

Binance's position faces challenges. Rivals Bybit and OKX have added similar products, though their volumes remain smaller. Regulatory pressure on Binance in multiple jurisdictions could slow its ability to maintain or expand the offering, the researcher said. Any forced delisting of U.S. stock contracts would shift flow to competitors.

For now, Binance holds a liquidity advantage that competitors find hard to match. A trader who wants to short Tesla on a Sunday afternoon has few alternatives. That alone keeps the volume flowing.

The real test for equity perpetuals will come when a large position triggers a forced liquidation. Crypto perpetuals have a history of violent price cascades when funding rates spike. Equity perpetuals have not yet faced that test at scale. The funding mechanism's stability remains unproven in a crisis, the market maker said.