Binance Goes All In: Trade 8,000 US Stocks & ETFs 24/5, Stock Tokenization on the Horizon?

Original: Odaily & Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author: Asher (@Asher_0210)

The mystery is revealed: “Mogu” stands for US stocks.

On May 29, Binance’s official X account posted a teaser image for a new product: a fully yellow room with a single pile of haystack in the center. No product screenshots, no trading interface, and no further explanation. The only clue left for the community was almost solely the Chinese character for “grain” (谷).

The community quickly decoded the image as a homophone puzzle. “Mo gu” (没谷) sounds like “mei gu” (美股), meaning US stocks. Many users thus speculated that Binance’s upcoming launch was not about ordinary crypto trading products, but about a feature related to the tokenization of US stocks, a hot topic in the crypto space recently.

Binance new product teaser image

Now the shoe has dropped. This afternoon, Binance announced that it will offer non-U.S. users access to over 8,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs for trading, and plans to launch bStocks, a product for users to self-initiate tokenized stock creation, in the coming weeks. In other words, Binance’s new product rollout consists of two steps: first, bringing U.S. stocks and ETFs into Binance accounts, and second, attempting to further bring stock assets onto the BNB Chain.

One Binance Account to Manage Stocks, ETFs, and Cryptocurrencies

24/5 Trading, Zero Commission, Automatic Dividend Crediting, and Security-Based Lending Support

Based on the official website page (link: https://www.binance.com/en/stocks-landing#faq-2), Binance has not just dipped its toes in the water with a few popular U.S. stocks. Instead, it has added U.S. stocks and ETFs as a complete trading category directly onto the platform. Users can buy and sell over 8,000 types of U.S. listed stocks and ETFs: Popular targets such as Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Google, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Netflix, AMD, JPMorgan Chase, Visa, and Mastercard are all listed on the official display.

More importantly, Binance has not made this product an independent stock application but has integrated it into the existing account system. The official website summarizes this as “One Account, Two Worlds,” meaning one account manages stocks, ETFs, and crypto assets simultaneously. Users can purchase stocks using crypto assets, with stock purchases primarily settled in USDC. Assets like BNB, USDT, and USD1 can also be used to place orders and will be automatically converted to USDC upon order submission. Proceeds from stock sales will be returned to the user’s funding account in USDC.

Regarding the trading threshold, Binance emphasizes a minimum investment of $5 and zero commission (platform fees and spreads apply separately). Additionally, the website mentions automatic dividend distribution and security lending features. Users can have dividends directly credited to their accounts or earn passive income by lending out their fully paid stocks.

Trading hours are also tailored to the habits of crypto users. The website states that the product supports 24-hour access to the U.S. market from Monday to Friday. Compared to traditional U.S. stock trading sessions, this design is more suitable for crypto users accustomed to round-the-clock trading.

Advantages of trading U.S. stocks on Binance

Binance also announced that the Fully Paid Securities Lending (FPSL) service will officially launch on June 4. This service allows users to lend their fully paid eligible securities to market participants and earn additional income through the lending process. It is reported that FPSL is a common securities lending mechanism in traditional financial markets, typically facilitated by brokerages or custodians, where idle securities held by investors are lent to institutions needing them for short selling, arbitrage, or market making.

Tokenized Stocks to Enter On-Chain Scenarios

In addition to stock trading within Binance accounts, the official website mentions that Binance plans to launch a tokenized stock product called bStocks, with related features set to go live in the coming weeks. At that time, users may be able to further convert their U.S. stock holdings into tokenized assets on the BNB Chain, allowing stocks to move beyond simple account-based trading and into on-chain circulation and DeFi scenarios.

Compared to similar products on platforms like Kraken and Robinhood, bStocks allows users to initiate the tokenization process themselves and opens up DeFi application scenarios such as lending and liquidity provision based on instant settlement. Binance states that bStocks aims to build a “native bridge from traditional stock ownership to programmable, 24/7 tokenized assets.” This means U.S. stocks are no longer just a holding number in an account but have the potential to be used in on-chain financial scenarios like lending and liquidity provision.

From U.S. Stock Trading to On-Chain Stocks: Binance Aims Higher

Binance’s launch of U.S. stock trading is less about adding “another feature to buy stocks” and more about pushing the boundaries of the CEX further out. In the past, exchanges competed on listing speed, contract depth, and liquidity. Now, the competition is shifting towards who can pack more assets into a single account. BTC, ETH, stablecoins, U.S. stocks, ETFs, and even future on-chain U.S. stocks are essentially being repackaged as tradable assets within user accounts.

The U.S. stock market continues to heat up, with sectors like AI semiconductors and memory chips constantly attracting capital. The crypto market is also seeking new trading scenarios and capital outlets. By placing U.S. stocks in its accounts, Binance is effectively connecting these two tracks. On one side are the familiar U.S. stock assets for users; on the other is the capital already deposited in the exchange.

bStocks represents an even more significant development. In-account trading addresses the question of “how to buy,” while on-chain tokenization addresses “what can be done after buying.” If U.S. stock holdings can be further utilized in DeFi scenarios like lending and liquidity provision, the competition for tokenized stocks will shift from a trading entry point to asset composability.

From buying crypto to buying U.S. stocks, and then bringing U.S. stocks onto the chain, Binance’s goal is not just to expand its feature menu but to broaden the asset boundaries that a single crypto account can encompass.