TLDR
- ETFs made up 25% of Gen Z equity trading volume on Binance in early August, up from 21.9% in July
- Gen Z averaged 13 monthly trades in TradFi perpetuals, fewer than Millennials (17) and Gen X (16.5)
- 22% of Gen Z direct-equity accounts had never placed a sell order
- Broadcom, Tesla, and the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF were top picks among Gen Z buy-only accounts
- Binance’s bStocks briefly overtook Kraken’s xStocks as the second-largest tokenized stock issuer, before losing the position again
Gen Z traders on Binance are putting more of their money into ETFs and trading less often than older generations, according to new data from Binance Research.
ETFs accounted for 25% of Gen Z equity trading volume in early August. That was up from 21.9% of net equity inflows in July and 18.5% in June.
Gen Z is rotating into ETFs.
Unleveraged ETFs rose to 21.9% of Gen Z equity net flow (June→July), and ETF trading share climbed to 25% in early August (vs 9.5% for Millennials).
More baskets, fewer single names—diversification over speculation.
Read more 👉… pic.twitter.com/jlim9amBHO
— Binance (@binance) August 15, 2026
Over the same period, the share going to individual stocks dropped from 77% in June to 74.2% in July.
Gen Z Trades Less and Holds Longer
Binance compared trading behavior across Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. The data covered direct equities, tokenized stocks, and traditional finance perpetuals.
Gen Z averaged 13 trades per month in TradFi perpetuals. Millennials averaged 17 and Gen X averaged 16.5.
Among Gen Z direct-equity accounts, 22% had never placed a sell order. That compares with 19% for Gen X and just 9% for Baby Boomers. Millennials had the highest share of buy-only accounts at 30%.
Top assets among Gen Z buy-only accounts included Broadcom, Tesla, and the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF.
Binance did not say whether the buy-only behavior reflects a long-term strategy. The exchange’s direct-equities product only launched in June, so the data window is short.
Low Demand for Leveraged ETFs
Gen Z showed little interest in leveraged and inverse ETFs. Binance reported that 88.2% of Gen Z TradFi perpetual accounts had no activity in those products.
The figure was lower for Millennials at 84.5% and Gen X at 85.9%, meaning Gen Z was the least active in leveraged ETF trading among working-age groups.
Binance did not explain what caused the difference, whether it was risk awareness, product eligibility, or something else.
The tokenized stock market continued to grow during this period. RWA.xyz tracked $2.37 billion in distributed tokenized stock value as of Saturday, up around 5% over 30 days.
Binance’s bStocks briefly passed Kraken’s xStocks to become the second-largest tokenized stock issuer. At its peak, bStocks held around $624 million versus $579 million for xStocks.
By Saturday, xStocks had moved back ahead with $603 million, while bStocks fell to $535 million. Ondo Finance remained the largest issuer at $962 million.
The broader market has seen rapid growth in users. In July, DWF Labs reported that the number of holders across five major tokenized stock platforms rose 92% in 30 days to 752,000.
Robinhood led in holder count with 328,000 but held only $44 million in tokenized stock value. Ondo controlled $857 million and xStocks held $487 million at the time.
Crypto.com has also entered the space, adding tokenized derivatives tied to 1,500 U.S. stocks and ETFs for eligible users in the European Economic Area and other approved markets.
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