Binance is moving further into traditional finance. The company announced Monday that its users will soon be able to trade more than 7,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs. It also outlined plans to tokenize those equities, transforming them into digital assets on its own blockchain. The goal, according to Binance co-CEO Richard Teng, is to create a "multi-asset financial super app" that blurs the line between crypto and legacy markets.
Aiming at International Investors
Teng told Fortune the move is targeted at customers outside the U.S. He noted that U.S. stocks account for more than half of the global equity market, but international investors face high costs and complexity. Binance says it will offer zero-commission trading and allow fractional share purchases starting at five dollars.
How It Works
For trading, Binance is partnering with broker-dealer Nest Trading, and custody will be handled by New York-based Alpaca. Customers can fund purchases using stablecoins like USDC or USDT, as well as other digital currencies including Binance's own BNB.
Tokenization: The bStock Plan
Alongside the trading service, Binance introduced "bStocks." The concept involves creating synthetic digital tokens that represent purchased equities, minted on the BNB blockchain. Teng says the functionality should be available in the coming weeks. Crucially, Binance claims its approach may differ from competitors by allowing customers to initiate the tokenization process themselves, rather than relying entirely on pre-set platform conversions.
Market Implications
Analysts have already weighed in. On X, analyst Zero Kyle argued the development could be negative for decentralized exchange Hyperliquid. While not necessarily bad for the HYPE token itself, Kyle suggested it could be "bad for Hyperliquid the exchange" due to the increased competition from a centralized giant.
As of this writing, BNB is trading at $692, down 2.3% in a broader crypto market retracement.