Binance Launches Tesla Contracts, Targeting Nasdaq and NYSE

Wenser

Odaily资深作者

@wenser2010

2026-01-27 12:18

This article is about 2326 words, reading the full article takes about 4 minutes

A showdown between CeFi and TradFi is inevitable.

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Core Viewpoint: Binance's relaunch of stock tokenized trading after a five-year hiatus marks the beginning of a liquidity battle between centralized exchanges (CEX) and traditional stock exchanges (TradFi). This move is the result of fundamental changes in the regulatory environment, infrastructure, and market maturity.
Key Factors:
1. Regulatory Environment Shift: The Trump administration in the US has fostered a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment through personnel appointments and legislative actions, providing a policy window for Binance to restart such business.
2. Market Foundation Maturity: The total market capitalization of tokenized stocks has exceeded $1 billion, with monthly trading volume surpassing $1.8 billion. Traditional institutions like Nasdaq and NYSE are also actively applying for related businesses, indicating an impending market boom.
3. Infrastructure Improvement: The passage of stablecoin legislation and the appointment of oracle projects as official partners have resolved technical bottlenecks in the development, settlement, and leverage aspects of tokenized stocks.
4. Seeking Growth Breakthrough: Binance faces a user growth bottleneck and needs to find new growth from the vast global pool of stock investors. Simultaneously, its revenue heavily relies on derivatives, making the multi-trillion-dollar stock market a coveted new profit growth point.
5. Competitive Pressure: Competitors like Bitget and Gate.io have already achieved tens of billions of dollars in trading volume for US stock contracts/token trading, forcing Binance to follow suit to maintain its market position.

Original｜Odaily (@OdailyChina)

Author｜Wenser (@wenser 2010)

Following Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filing applications for tokenized stock trading, Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has recently sounded the "counterattack horn of CeFi against TradFi."

On January 24, a Binance spokesperson stated that the exchange is "exploring relisting stock tokens." Two days later, Binance officially announced that it will "launch Tesla (TSLA) stock perpetual contracts on January 28, supporting up to 5x leverage."

It is worth noting that this is Binance's bold attempt after a five-year hiatus since it ceased support for stock tokens in July 2021. Times have changed, and the current market regulatory environment and infrastructure development have undergone dramatic transformations.

Binance's move may signal that the "liquidity battle" between CEXs and traditional stock exchanges has officially begun. Odaily will provide a brief analysis of this matter in this article for readers' reference.

Tesla Becomes Binance's Testing Ground for Tokenized Stock Trading Again

The short-lived "stock token experiment" in 2021 left Binance not only with the pressure of facing regulatory compliance forces but also with a setback for CeFi's power against the TradFi forces in traditional financial markets.

Today, five years later, Binance's restart of stock token contract trading harbors even greater ambitions. The reasons lie in the following three significant changes:

First, the "crypto-friendly attitude" of U.S. government regulatory agencies. After the Biden administration stepped down, the Trump administration ignited a "crypto storm" in the U.S. and globally. Through personnel appointments, organizational restructuring, and legislative measures, it has created a "new crypto regulatory environment," clearing the atmosphere in the U.S. crypto market.

Second, the rapid development of tokenized stock trading. According to data from rwa.xyz, the total market capitalization of tokenized stocks is currently reported at $1.096 billion, with trading volume exceeding $1.86 billion in the past 30 days, monthly active addresses surpassing 107,700, and holder numbers exceeding 170,000. Compared to the market cap of less than $500 million in December 2024, it has achieved the milestone of doubling in about a year. With Nasdaq and NYSE's related applications potentially being approved by the U.S. SEC this year, the scale of the tokenized stock market is poised for explosive growth.

Third, the improvement of infrastructure such as stablecoins, oracles, and on-chain/off-chain settlement systems. Following the signing of the GENIUS Act (stablecoin legislation) in 2025, the selection of oracle projects like Chainlink and Pyth Network as official partners of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the opening of applications for U.S. banking system and crypto banking licenses, the development, listing, settlement, and leveraging of stock tokens no longer face technical bottlenecks compared to 2021.

Based on these conditions, Binance has reopened the door to "stock contract trading" after previously integrating with the tokenized stock trading platform ONDO Global Market. The deeper implications of Binance's move may lie in the following two aspects:

First, seeking "new user growth." According to Binance's official website, its total user base has climbed to 306 million, accounting for more than half of the estimated global crypto population of around 600 million. Undoubtedly, Binance has entered a "user growth bottleneck," which is one of the main reasons it has long relied on traditional internet user acquisition methods for promotion. Compared to the hundreds of millions or even billions of stock investors and institutions worldwide, the crypto population remains a "niche group." To continue expanding and sustaining growth, Binance's exploration of TradFi products is both incidental and inevitable.

Second, seeking "new business growth." In 2025, Binance's total platform trading volume reached $34 trillion, even exceeding the annual stablecoin trading volume in 2025 (which was $33 trillion), solidifying its title as the "world's largest centralized exchange." However, detailed data shows that Binance's spot-related trading volume was approximately $7.1 trillion, accounting for only one-fifth of the total trading volume. In other words, the bulk of Binance's trading volume still comes from derivatives such as contracts and options. This is determined by Binance's CEX business model and also reflects the significant role of derivative products in stimulating trading volume and generating platform fees. The multi-trillion-dollar stock market is the "next big cake" that Binance eagerly eyes.

With favorable timing and conditions, Binance naturally reopened stock contract trading. Choosing Tesla (TSLA) contracts as the primary asset seems to carry the sentiment of "getting back up where you fell." As one of the most growth-potential U.S. stocks under Musk's portfolio, the launch of Tesla contracts can also boost the discussion around Binance's restart of stock contract trading to some extent.

On the other hand, the substantial trading volumes of many competing CEXs might have given Binance a sense of urgency.

Data shows that Bitget's U.S. stock contract section has accumulated a trading volume exceeding $15 billion, with the top three popular trading assets being Tesla (TSLA), Meta Platforms (META), and Apple (AAPL), with cumulative trading volumes of $5.4 billion, $3 billion, and $1.7 billion, respectively. As of January 5, Gate's stock token section has accumulated a trading volume exceeding $13.5 billion, with nearly 80 trading pairs listed.

Conclusion: Binance vs. Nasdaq and NYSE – A David vs. Goliath Battle for Liquidity

Finally, the author boldly predicts that there will be a fierce battle between crypto CEXs like Binance and traditional financial stock exchanges like Nasdaq and NYSE. Of course, this war has not fully erupted yet, but what they are competing for is not just the number of users but also a platform liquidity war involving capital and fees.

Although compared to the annual trading volumes of Nasdaq and NYSE, which reach tens of trillions of dollars, the trading volume and market scale of crypto CEXs like Binance lag by more than an order of magnitude. From the perspectives of brand recognition, market scale, and trading volume, this is an outright "David vs. Goliath" battle. However, in terms of user experience, product iteration, and regulatory adaptability, CEXs like Binance undoubtedly possess greater flexibility.

Of course, the premise of victory is that regulatory forces do not "take sides," and this liquidity battle may be a protracted war—testing not only short-term wealth creation effects but also the long-term ability to deeply intertwine with the global economic landscape. As for who the ultimate winner will be and who will become the rule-maker of the new game, let's wait and see.