The Binance research team revealed in a closed-door event that in the early trading sample of Binance's tokenized U.S. stock product bStocks, 93% of trades were fractional share trades, with a median trade amount of only $18.8. Approximately 80% of early trading activity came from emerging markets.

The data during trading hours is even more striking. As of the research window ending in July, trades completed by bStocks during the U.S. traditional stock market's off-hours accounted for 62% of total trading volume. This means that most tokenized U.S. stock trading occurs during the nighttime, weekends, and holidays when the NYSE and NASDAQ are closed. The Binance research team believes that the low entry barrier and continuous trading are creating new demand for stock-related assets.

bStocks was launched on June 12, 2026, issued as a BEP-20 standard token on the BNB Chain. The issuer is Binance's affiliated entity BTech Holdings Limited, while Binance's brokerage entity Nest Trading Limited is responsible for purchasing the corresponding underlying stocks in the secondary market, which are held by a regulated custodian. Each token is pegged 1:1 to a share of the corresponding U.S. stock or ETF. The first batch includes stocks from Nvidia, Tesla, Micron Technology, SanDisk, and Circle, with a trading pair reserved for SpaceX to be activated upon its public listing. Users can convert between the underlying stocks and bStocks without fees, and the first batch of trading pairs has a limited-time waiver on order fees. The product is offered through Binance's licensed entity in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and is not available to U.S. users.

bStocks is built on Binance's U.S. stock business. On June 1, 2026, Binance launched direct trading of U.S. stocks through its ADGM licensed entity, covering over 7,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, with zero commission and a minimum investment of $5 for fractional shares, settled in stablecoins. Public data shows that this business surpassed $1 billion in asset scale within about 30 days of its launch, with a cumulative trading volume of approximately $3 billion and a daily net inflow of about $42 million. Binance expects the asset scale to reach $10 billion by the end of 2026. About 73% of new users come from emerging markets, and approximately 70% of users choose to hold rather than trade on the same day; technology stocks account for 71% of holdings, with semiconductor stocks alone accounting for 48%, and over 70% of funds flowing into AI-themed stocks.

Compared to similar products, the combined weekly trading volume of Backed Finance (the issuer of xStocks) and Ondo Finance's two tokenized stock platforms was only $35 million to $40 million during the same period, less than the net inflow of bStocks in a single day. The Binance research team's longer-term estimate is that by 2031, crypto platforms could bring an additional $2 trillion to $5 trillion in funding to the global stock market and about 300 million new investors, mainly from emerging economies.

In terms of market mechanisms, this is a capital migration driven by product launch. The buyers are mainly retail investors from emerging markets: they previously found it difficult to open U.S. brokerage accounts or were restricted by local foreign exchange controls and high minimum deposits. Now they can directly buy U.S. stock tokens with USDT at a few dollars. The sellers and liquidity providers are market makers and Binance's brokerage entities responsible for purchasing the underlying stocks and hedging exposure. Funds are flowing from stablecoin balances to U.S. tech stocks, especially leading AI and semiconductor stocks. Beneficiaries include Binance, BNB Chain, and the U.S. dollar stablecoins that are expanding in usage due to increased trading demand; those under pressure include local brokers in emerging markets, internet brokers like Robinhood promoting U.S. stocks overseas, and tokenized stock issuers like Ondo and Backed that are significantly lagging behind.

Supplementary data: bStocks' off-hours trading accounted for 62% of total trades, while the night and pre/post-market trading offered by U.S. traditional brokers typically accounts for only single digits to a few dozen percent of total trading volume, a difference of several times.

Source: Public information