Ondo Perps has opened early access for eligible traders ahead of its full launch on June 9, bringing perpetual futures to tokenized stocks and ETFs.
The product extends the perp model beyond crypto assets and into equities, letting eligible non-U.S. traders take long or short exposure to stock-linked markets that trade around the clock. The initial setup is expected to include leading U.S. equities and ETFs, with leverage available up to 20x.
The launch is a major step in Ondo’s push to make tokenized real-world assets useful inside active trading strategies, not only passive holding. Perpetual futures are among crypto’s highest-volume products because they let traders express directional views without expiry dates. Ondo is applying that structure to stock-linked assets, where traditional market hours, brokerage access and geographic limits still shape how users trade.
The market reacted quickly. ONDO rose sharply as early-access news spread, with CoinGecko showing the token up more than 17% over 24 hours while trading volume passed $400 million.
Tokenized Stocks Become Trading Collateral
The strongest feature is the collateral design. Ondo Perps is built so traders can use tokenized securities as margin, rather than relying only on stablecoins or cash-like collateral.
That changes the capital-efficiency story. A trader holding tokenized Nvidia or Tesla exposure could use that position as collateral for another perp trade instead of selling the asset first. A tokenized ETF position could also sit inside a wider strategy, giving users a way to hedge, add leverage or build cross-asset trades while keeping equity-linked exposure onchain.
That fits the direction Ondo has already been taking. Ondo Global Markets recently pushed tokenized equities past major adoption milestones, with tokenized stocks crossing $1.5 billion as Ondo assets led the category. The company has also expanded tokenized stock access across multiple networks, including a recent move that brought Ondo assets to Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM through LayerZero.
Ondo Perps now adds the derivatives layer on top of that spot-style RWA base.
The Race For Onchain Stock Trading Is Accelerating
Ondo’s launch comes as exchanges and infrastructure firms race to bring equities into crypto-native trading environments. Binance has already moved into U.S. stock trading and planned bStocks tokenized equities, while Binance stock-linked perps have shown how much demand exists for TradFi perpetual markets.
Ondo’s version is different because it is built directly around tokenized RWA collateral. That makes it closer to a full onchain market stack: tokenized stocks for exposure, perps for leverage and hedging, and blockchain rails for transferability outside ordinary brokerage infrastructure.
The timing also lands just after U.S. regulators approved the first regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures contract from KalshiEX. That approval does not clear the way for U.S. retail equity perps, and Ondo Perps remains aimed at eligible non-U.S. users. Still, it shows that perpetual contracts are moving from crypto-native exchanges into more formal market structures.
The risk side is clear. Equity perps are not the same as owning shares. Leverage adds liquidation risk, funding rates can change trade economics, and tokenized assets may carry eligibility, custody, redemption and market-tracking limits. The SEC has also narrowed expectations around tokenized stock exemptions, warning that synthetic or stock-tracking products will not get broad relief simply because they use blockchain rails.
Ondo Perps still marks a meaningful shift. Tokenized equities are no longer only a buy-and-hold RWA product. They are becoming margin, collateral and trading inventory for 24/7 onchain markets.
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