- TradFi perpetual volume has increased roughly 15-fold since January.
- Equity-linked contracts generated most of August’s activity.
- Binance is adding options on more than 1,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs.
- Alpaca handles execution, settlement and custody for the new options service.
Binance is expanding deeper into traditional markets after monthly trading volume in its TradFi perpetual futures reached approximately $433.4 billion in August, around 15 times January’s level. The crypto exchange is now adding physically settled options on more than 1,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs for eligible users outside the United States, extending a product lineup that already includes direct equities, tokenized shares and equity-linked derivatives.
Equity perpetuals are driving the increase
Binance reported approximately $29.5 billion in TradFi perpetual volume in January.
By August, that figure had climbed to $433.4 billion, according to Bloomberg.
The expansion was heavily concentrated in equities. Stock-linked perpetual contracts generated $342.9 billion, accounting for roughly 79% of Binance’s TradFi perpetual volume during the month. In January, equity perpetual volume was only $410.9 million.
That means the equity segment itself expanded by more than 800 times in seven months.
The broader market had already shown similar momentum in July. Centralized exchanges processed a record $460 billion of real-world-asset perpetual volume during the month, according to CoinDesk Data, with Binance controlling approximately 75.6% of the market.
Binance’s own August figures indicate that demand remained elevated after that record month.
The important shift is not simply that crypto traders are speculating on stocks. They are increasingly using crypto-style market infrastructure to trade traditional-asset prices.
Stock perpetuals are not stocks
The distinction matters because Binance’s TradFi perpetual contracts do not give traders ownership of the underlying company.
A stock perpetual tracks the price of an equity but has no expiry date and settles in USDT. Binance offers leverage of up to 10x, while funding payments every eight hours help keep the derivative close to the underlying market.
Trading also continues 24/7, including periods when the underlying U.S. stock market is closed.
That creates a different risk profile from buying a share.
During weekends and market holidays, the reference stock itself is not trading. The perpetual market can continue moving based on trader expectations, leaving the contract exposed to repricing when the underlying exchange reopens.
Binance introduced an orderbook-based pricing mechanism earlier this year intended to smooth those moves and reduce abrupt liquidations around traditional market openings.
Binance is now adding physically settled stock options
The next expansion moves beyond synthetic perpetual exposure.
Through Nest Trading Limited, Binance is adding options tied to more than 1,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs for eligible users outside the United States.
Nest, an Abu Dhabi Global Market-regulated Binance entity, acts as the introducing broker. Orders are routed to U.S.-registered broker-dealer Alpaca Securities, which handles execution, clearing, settlement and custody.
Unlike Binance’s equity perpetuals, these options are physically settled.
When an eligible option is exercised, the user receives or delivers the underlying shares, which are held in custody by Alpaca on behalf of the customer.
Retail users approved for options trading can buy calls and puts. Binance says maximum loss for those long-option positions is limited to the premium paid.
The products will not be available to U.S. users.
Binance now has several routes into the same stock
The expansion can become confusing because Binance’s traditional-asset products may reference the same companies while providing very different legal and economic exposure.
For users, the main differences are:
- U.S. stocks and ETFs: Eligible customers buy actual securities through brokerage infrastructure, with Alpaca providing execution and custody.
- Stock perpetuals: Traders receive leveraged price exposure without owning the underlying shares.
- Contracts settle in USDT and can trade continuously.
- bStocks: Blockchain tokens are backed 1:1 by underlying securities and can be transferred to compatible self-custody wallets.
- Stock options: Traders buy calls or puts on supported U.S. securities, with physical settlement when exercised.
The distinction is more important than the interface used to trade them.
Someone buying an actual share is an investor in the security. A perpetual trader holds a derivative contract. A bStock holder owns a tokenized representation backed by the security. An options buyer owns a contract providing specific rights under defined conditions.
Putting all four inside the same broader ecosystem reduces the visible boundary between a crypto exchange and a conventional multi-asset broker, but it does not make the products legally interchangeable.
Alpaca gives Binance access to brokerage infrastructure
Binance does not need to recreate the U.S. securities clearing and custody system to offer these products internationally.
Its relationship with Alpaca provides that connection.
The two companies were already working together on Binance’s direct U.S. equities offering, which provides eligible non-U.S. customers access to more than 7,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs. Alpaca supplies the brokerage infrastructure behind that service.
The new options integration extends the model.
Binance controls the customer interface and can place traditional assets alongside crypto products. Regulated brokerage functions remain with specialized entities behind the platform.
For Binance, that is a faster route to building a multi-asset offering than becoming the direct clearing and custody provider for every security itself.
Crypto exchanges are competing for traditional-market trading
Binance is not alone in expanding equity derivatives.
Bybit is preparing to launch 24/7 options tied to stock perpetuals on September 17, initially including SpaceX and Nvidia exposure. Unlike Binance’s physically settled options on listed securities, Bybit’s contracts will reference stock perpetuals and settle in USDT.
That difference illustrates where competition is heading.
Crypto exchanges are no longer competing only over BTC and ETH liquidity. They are trying to bring the trading mechanics that became popular in crypto, including perpetual contracts, stablecoin collateral and continuous markets, to equities, commodities and ETFs.
Binance’s volume data suggests traders are responding.
The next useful metric is not simply whether TradFi perpetual volume sets another record. It is which form of equity exposure users choose once several versions of the same asset are available in one ecosystem.
If direct shares attract long-term capital while perpetuals continue dominating turnover, Binance could effectively develop two different customer behaviors inside the same platform: conventional investing through regulated brokerage rails and high-frequency speculation through crypto-native derivatives.
That split would provide a clearer measure of whether crypto exchanges are genuinely taking business from traditional brokers, or primarily creating a new derivatives market around traditional asset prices.
Source: https://www.crypto-news-flash.com/binance-sees-433b-tradfi-volume-as-stock-trading-explodes/
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