Binance First Look: Simple Stock Trading, But Not "Zero-Commission"

After a weekend of buildup, Binance's US stock product has finally arrived. Within the Binance app, virtually all US stocks can now be traded.

This time, Binance isn't just testing the waters with a few tokenized blue-chip stocks; it has launched access to over 7,000 US stocks and ETFs in one go. Its positioning is what co-CEO Richard Teng calls a "multi-asset financial super app." In his words to Fortune, US stocks represent over half of the global stock market, but accessing them is costly and friction-filled for overseas users. Binance aims to eliminate this barrier.

Our editor conducted a complete end-to-end test by placing an order for NVDA, experiencing the entire product flow firsthand.

Product Test: How Does Binance's US Stock Experience Stack Up?

Opening the Binance App's "Settings" page, the first step was to confirm the version: v3.15.0, the latest version. The language was switched to Traditional Chinese. A prerequisite previously reported by the community was verified here: Chinese users looking to trade US stocks must switch their language from Simplified Chinese to Traditional Chinese or another language; Simplified Chinese is the only one excluded.

Switching to the "Markets" page, a new "Traditional Finance" tab appeared at the top, alongside "Cryptocurrency" and "Alpha." Below, it's divided into three sub-sections: Stocks, Spot, and USDT-Margined Perpetuals. The Stocks section further offers filters for "US Stocks" and "ETFs."

Scrolling through the list, the first names seen aren't Apple or Tesla, but obscure small-cap stocks like ZCMD (market cap ~$46.76 million), SVC (~$23.31 million), and WOK (~$18.15 million) – names that even seasoned US stock investors might not recognize. NOK also has an "ADR" tag next to it. This indicates that the coverage of 7,000 stocks isn't just about showcasing a few blue chips; it genuinely extends to small-caps and even ADRs.

However, the experience could be improved if there were other filtering and sorting options to display mainstream large-cap stocks like Nvidia and Intel more prominently.

The ability to offer 7,000 US stock trading pairs stems from Binance not using an on-chain minting tokenization route, but rather a real brokerage channel. This means the underlying assets aren't limited by an issuer's minting progress. Comparing scale: Kraken's xStocks covers over 60 blue chips; underlying issuer Backed Finance currently has around 100 assets, aiming for over 500 by year-end; Robinhood's tokenized offering in the EU covers about 200 companies. While others mint and list one asset at a time, Binance has effectively connected to the entire shelf of the US stock market.

Entering the NVDA detail page. The quote is $216.209, marked "Pre-market," up 1.83% pre-market, following a previous close down 0.79%. The K-line chart supports timeframes from 1 week to 5 years, similar to mainstream brokerage apps.

Scrolling down reveals a "Key Data" panel: Volume 4.1946 million shares, Open $213.05, Avg Volume 156 million shares, 52W High $236.54, 52W Low $135.40, Market Cap $5.11T, P/E Ratio 32.04, EPS $6.59, Dividend Yield 0.02%, Free Cash Flow $119.076B. The data granularity is on par with Webull or Robinhood. Further down is a "Corporate Actions" section, indicating a cash dividend on June 4th.

The "Related News" area aggregates sources from Benzinga, The Motley Fool, Investing.com, and others. At the very bottom is a company profile. The overall information architecture is sufficient for stock market novices, but lacks deep data like financial statements, analyst ratings, and institutional holdings, falling short of Bloomberg or Tonghuashun. For Binance's target users, it might be enough. But for serious stock players, it may lack depth and professionalism in information density.

Now, let's place an order.

Clicking "Buy," we input 100 USDT. The system automatically converts: 100 USDT is first converted to ~99.88 USDC at an exchange rate of 1 USDT ≈ 0.998859 USDC, then used to buy approximately 0.4545 shares of NVDA at the market price (best ask $218.97), resulting in a trade value of 99.53 USDC and an estimated fee of 0.35 USDC.

There's an unavoidable intermediate step here: whether you pay with USDT or BNB, all funds are first converted to USDC, and then USDC is used to settle the stock purchase. The conversion fee between USDC and USD is 0 (the spread is borne by Binance), but conversions from other coins like USDT or BNB to USDC are "subject to market spreads." This means using USDC directly is the most cost-effective path, while using USDT or BNB incurs an additional conversion loss.

Currently, only two order types are available: Market orders and Limit orders. The order validity is "Day." The payment source is "Funding Wallet + Spot Wallet," indicating the system will automatically deduct balances from both.

After clicking preview, a "Securities Trading Disclaimer & Information Sharing" document pops up. The core terms, in formal language, state one key thing: Nest Trading Limited acts as the introducing broker, transmitting orders to Alpaca Securities LLC for execution, clearing, settlement, and custody. Binance does not handle or custody the user's securities. Two checkboxes are mandatory: Accept Securities Trading Product Terms, and Agree to Share Personal Information with Alpaca Securities LLC.

The fee breakdown popup clearly states: Commission (Brokerage) 0 USDC, Platform Fee 0.35 USDC, Spread 0 USDC, Total 0.35 USDC. Three notes below are worth highlighting: First, Binance doesn't charge commissions, but orders are subject to platform fees or spreads. Second, BNB fee discounts are not currently supported. Third, regulatory fees (CAT, TAF, SEC fees) may be charged in the future.

The fee structure page breaks it down further: Trading Spread 0.10%, minimum $0.35 per trade; the same rate applies to fractional shares, with a minimum investment of $1; account opening, maintenance, inactivity, and custody fees are all $0. For regulatory fees, SEC transaction fees (seller-side only) are borne by Binance, so the user pays $0.

So, the term "zero commission" should be interpreted as follows: the commission itself is indeed zero, but the 0.10% platform fee (minimum $0.35) is a hard cost, and the non-USDC conversion spread is a soft cost. Taking this 100 USDT purchase of NVDA as an example, the 0.35 USDC platform fee on a trade value of 99.53 USDC translates to an effective rate of ~0.35%. This isn't low compared to traditional brokers (Robinhood and Webull are also zero), but it's not high for a crypto exchange (where the base spot trading fee is typically 0.10%). The lack of BNB discount support is a clear expectation gap in an ecosystem where BNB can be used for fee deductions on almost all other Binance products.

Another factor with a greater impact on long-term holders: the dividend processing fee is $0, but US tax withholding is defaulted at 30% of the total dividend, deducted before crediting. This is the standard U.S. withholding tax rate for non-resident aliens, not a Binance fee, but it means you only receive 70% of the declared dividend amount. NVDA's dividend yield is only 0.02%, so the impact is negligible, but for high-dividend ETFs, this 30% deduction is significant.

It's important to note that a market order placed during pre-market hours won't execute immediately; it will be filled at the best available price once the market opens.

While 24-hour trading is available Monday to Friday, liquidity is extremely thin outside core hours, and market orders could face significant slippage. The disclaimer also explicitly states: "Securities are subject to high market and liquidity risks and price fluctuations, especially outside of traditional market trading hours."

For crypto users, 24/7 trading is the norm; however, stock market liquidity isn't something that can be replicated simply by extending trading hours. Market maker quotes, institutional participation, and order flow density are all concentrated in the window between 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM ET. The significance of 24-hour access is more about "being able to place an order anytime" rather than "being able to get a fill at a reasonable price anytime."

Securities Lending: Another Major Breakthrough for Binance

Having completed the trading experience, let's dive deeper into Binance's US stock product.

For a crypto exchange to run a US stock business, the front-end "Buy" button is just the tip of the iceberg. The real weight lies in the three pillars of matching, custody, and lending. In this instance, Binance has strictly limited its role to the front-end interface, delegating the backend tasks to two entities.

The first is Nest Trading Limited. The disclaimer identifies it as an "Introducing Broker," which sounds like an external partner, but investigation reveals it is a Binance-owned company. In December 2025, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) approved licenses for three Binance entities: Nest Exchange Limited for exchange platform business (spot and derivatives), Nest Clearing and Custody Limited for clearing, settlement, and digital asset custody, and Nest Trading Limited (formerly BCI Limited) holding a broker-dealer license for non-exchange platform businesses like over-the-counter trading and conversion services. In other words, Nest Trading isn't a third-party brought in by Binance; it's Binance's own licensed arm under the ADGM framework, designed specifically to handle business that doesn't go through the exchange's matching engine. Referral of US stock orders is a natural extension of this "OTC" business.

The second is Alpaca Securities LLC. This is the true independent third party. Headquartered in New York, Alpaca is a self-clearing, licensed securities broker-dealer registered with FINRA and protected by SIPC (up to $500,000 per customer account). It is also a clearing member of DTCC, FICC, and OCC. However, Alpaca is not a retail-facing broker; it is a B2B infrastructure provider for fintech companies. Its core product is the Broker API, enabling partners to embed stock, option, fixed income, and crypto trading into their own apps. To date, Alpaca's API serves over 200 fintech customers in more than 40 countries, powering over 10 million brokerage accounts. Early partners include Gotrade and Midas. Binance represents the largest crypto platform it has on-boarded.

Another highly noteworthy update is the upcoming launch of securities lending on June 4th.

Fully Paid Securities Lending (FPSL) allows users to lend out eligible, fully-paid stocks to market participants (typically institutions needing to short, arbitrage, or make markets) and earn interest income.

FPSL is an extremely mature business in traditional financial markets. Charles Schwab's securities lending program operates on a 50/50 revenue share with a minimum asset threshold of $100,000. Fidelity requires a minimum account balance of $25,000. Interactive Brokers' Stock Yield Enhancement Program also offers a 50% share with a $25,000 minimum. Robinhood launched its own program in 2022 with the lowest barriers and daily interest calculations. The global securities lending market contributes nearly $10 billion in annual revenue.

Within crypto exchanges, Kraken was a pioneer. In 2025, it launched FPSL for its US stock offering, allowing eligible users to lend fully-held stocks for interest. This was also a key hook for Kraken to attract users to transfer stock positions from other brokers via ACATS. Furthermore, Alpaca itself launched an FPSL feature for its Broker API partners in May 2025, so Binance's securities lending likely reuses Alpaca's underlying capabilities.

For Binance, the significance of FPSL extends beyond just adding a feature tag. It's a crucial step in moving users from "buy and hold" to "buy and earn yield," and it serves as a prelude to integrating stocks into DeFi lending protocols once future bStocks are tokenized. First, run lending within the traditional brokerage framework; then, port the same logic on-chain – this path is coherent.

Beyond Binance: The Same Race Across Exchanges

Zooming out, Binance's move is not isolated. Throughout early 2026, the race has become crowded.

Coinbase, OKX, Kraken, and Bybit have all announced or launched tokenized stock trading this year, with the market cap of tokenized stocks surging from $32 million to nearly $1 billion in under a year.

Coinbase is pursuing an "everything exchange" route. In early 2026, it launched traditional stock and ETF trading for all US users, offering zero commissions, 24/5 trading, and fractional shares starting at $1, paired with a marketing partnership with Yahoo Finance, clearly targeting Robinhood. However, the fine print in its announcement deliberately excluded tokenized equities from its licensed broker-dealer and main operating company entities, leaving a regulatory cliffhanger.

Robinhood is the originator of this tokenization narrative. In June 2025, CEO Vlad Tenev outlined a three-step plan during an event called "To Catch a Token." The first step was launching tokenized stocks in the EU, covering over 200 US companies, with the core philosophy being an invisible user experience for tokenization. The underlying infrastructure is its own blockchain, an Ethereum L2 based on Arbitrum Orbit, dedicated to real-world asset tokenization, with a full launch planned for 2026.

Kraken focuses on DeFi integration and self-custody. Its xStocks allows investors to withdraw 1:1 backed equity tokens to private wallets and use them as collateral, settling on Solana and Ethereum, covering over 60 blue chips, and partnering with Nasdaq. On the capital front, Deutsche Boerse invested $200 million in Kraken in April.

OKX also secured a significant advantage. In March 2026, NYSE's parent company, ICE, announced a $25 billion strategic investment in OKX, centered around a "unified matching engine," placing NYSE-affiliated tokenized equities at its core. This marks the first time a traditional exchange operator has invested in a top-tier crypto platform for this purpose, securing a board seat.

Other players are also active. Coinbase and Bybit are exploring collaboration on tokenizing, custodizing, and distributing US public and pre-IPO stocks. Bitget partnered with Ondo Finance to list over 100 tokenized US stocks, with spot volume surpassing $1 billion in January 2026. Regarding the underlying issuance engine, Backed Finance's xStocks currently covers about 100 underlying assets, targeting over 500 by end of 2026, with cumulative trading volume exceeding $25 billion by March this year. On-chain, the trading volume of tokenized stock derivatives hit a single-day record of $3.57 billion on May 18th, driven primarily by Binance and Hyperliquid.

It's worth noting that this isn't just crypto moving towards stocks. Traditional institutions are also moving on-chain in the opposite direction. BlackRock has packaged US Treasuries as blockchain-encapsulated products, while both NYSE and Nasdaq have