Binance US stock options are now available to eligible non-US users, covering more than 1,000 selected US equities and ETFs, in a move that adds a fourth layer of traditional-market access to what was, until recently, a purely crypto-focused platform. The product, detailed in Binance’s official announcement, sits alongside direct stock trading, tokenised securities and equity-linked perpetual futures inside a single account.
Options (contracts giving the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell shares at a set price before a set date) have long been the preserve of dedicated brokerage platforms. Binance’s entry into the space represents a direct challenge to that model for international retail investors.
How the Binance US Stock Options Structure Works
Orders flow through Nest Trading Limited, Binance’s Abu Dhabi entity, which holds an Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial services licence and acts as an introducing broker. Introducing broker means it routes client orders onward rather than executing them itself. Nest Trading is not permitted to hold client money or provide custody directly, per the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority’s public register.
Execution, clearing, settlement and custody all sit with Alpaca Securities LLC, a US-registered self-clearing broker-dealer, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member, and member of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). FINRA BrokerCheck records show Alpaca Securities was approved in March 2018 and is regulated by FINRA’s New York district office. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AlpacaDB, Inc.
The options do not confer ownership of the underlying shares. If a user exercises a contract, they receive or deliver the relevant shares or ETF units, held in custody by Alpaca on Binance users’ behalf. Exercise requests must be submitted at least 30 minutes before expiry. Trading runs during regular US hours, 9:30am to 4:00pm ET, with certain ETF and ETN (exchange-traded note) options eligible for a late close until 4:15pm ET.
The entity now called Nest Trading was originally registered under ADGM’s approval of Binance’s three Abu Dhabi entities as BCI Limited, with permissions covering dealing in investments, arranging deals, managing assets, arranging custody and providing money services.
The Infrastructure Behind the Launch
Alpaca is building a meaningful position as the back-end partner for crypto exchanges moving into traditional equities. Gate announced a partnership with Alpaca for US stocks, ETFs, IPO access and tokenised stocks on 11 September 2026, confirming Alpaca is supporting several such expansions simultaneously.
Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca, set out the operational demands in Alpaca’s announcement of the launch: ‘Options place different demands on the infrastructure underneath, from account approvals to margin, exercise, and assignment. As an agent-first self-clearing broker-dealer, we handle that work directly.’
Binance describes itself as the largest digital asset platform by trading volume, with over 300 million global users. Its TradFi (traditional finance) perpetual futures volume reached approximately $433.4 billion in August 2026, around 15 times the January level, according to the company.
Binance launched direct trading in more than 7,000 US-listed stocks and ETFs through Alpaca’s infrastructure in June 2026, per the Binance PR Newswire announcement. Within the first week, over 80% of volume came from users in emerging markets, and one in four users was under 25 years old, according to Alpaca’s broker-dealer disclosures. The bStocks product, Binance’s tokenised equities offering, reached $500 million in assets under management (the total value of client holdings on the platform) as of 29 June 2026, per the Alpaca launch blog.
Shunyet Jan, Head of Exchange and Trading at Binance, described the direction of travel: ‘Stock options are an important next step in Binance’s evolution into a fuller multi-asset platform. By adding options on selected U.S. stocks and ETFs, we are expanding the tools available to users who want to participate in equity markets, manage exposure, and access strategies that have historically been offered through traditional brokers.’
The Binance US stock options product differs structurally from Bybit’s planned offering, which is written on stock perpetual futures rather than on the underlying listed securities. Binance’s version is physically settled, meaning exercise results in actual share or ETF delivery rather than a cash equivalent based on a derivative price.
For retail investors watching this space, the key question is whether Alpaca’s clearing infrastructure can handle the additional complexity options bring during periods of market stress, particularly around expiry dates when exercise and assignment volumes spike. Crowdfund Insider noted the scale of the June equities launch as a measure of early demand. Options expiry weeks in volatile markets will be the first real test of how robust the plumbing is.
