Binance has formally disclosed a minority stake in Alpaca as it rolls out U.S. stock and ETF trading for eligible users outside the United States — a move that deepens the exchange’s push to become a multi-asset platform.
What’s live now
- Binance users outside the U.S. can access more than 7,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, buy fractional shares starting at $5, and trade around the clock Monday–Friday.
- Orders are introduced via Nest Trading; Alpaca Securities handles execution, clearing, settlement and custody. Binance says it does not custody the securities itself.
- Users can fund stock purchases with stablecoins and select crypto balances. Alpaca identified USDC as the primary stablecoin option; Binance also supports BNB, USDT, USD1 and $U for eligible users.
Commercial terms and revenue splits
- Under the disclosed agreement, Binance holds a minority stake in Alpaca and will receive 50% of Alpaca’s payment-for-order-flow (PFOF) fees for orders routed through the partnership.
- Binance also gets 65% of remaining profit from user securities lending after interest payments to users are made.
- These revenue-sharing details clarify how Binance may monetize the new stocks product and explain why some observers may scrutinize execution quality and lending practices — common flashpoints around PFOF and securities lending.
Why Alpaca?
Alpaca was chosen for its API-first brokerage infrastructure, breadth of products and ease of integration, the company said. Its regulated broker-dealer setup provides the tech stack Binance needs to offer traditional securities without directly holding customer assets. Alpaca CEO Yoshi Yokokawa said the company has built “a regulated brokerage infrastructure to help partners expand access to financial markets in a scalable way.”
Alpaca’s role in tokenized equities
Alpaca is already a major infrastructure provider for tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs — earlier data indicated it controls roughly 94% market share in custody for tokenized U.S. equities. Binance’s current stock product does not deliver tokenized shares at launch; instead, the exchange plans to release “bStocks,” a tokenized securities product, in the coming weeks. Binance says bStocks will allow eligible users to convert supported equity holdings into on‑chain assets that could enable lending and liquidity use cases, subject to launch rules and regulatory constraints.
Broader context and implications
The tie-up gives Binance a route into traditional capital markets without directly holding users’ securities, while boosting Alpaca’s reach through one of the largest crypto platforms by user count and trading volume. It also reflects a broader trend: crypto exchanges increasingly partnering with regulated brokers and custodians to add equities, ETFs and on-chain stock products.
Areas to watch
- Payment-for-order-flow: a common brokerage revenue model that can raise questions about trade execution quality and transparency.
- Securities lending split: Binance’s share of lending profits links its revenue to assets users permit to be lent; users will be able to opt into fully paid securities lending starting June 4, 2026.
- Tokenization rollout: how bStocks are structured, which assets will be eligible, and what on-chain utility they’ll support.
Bottom line
The partnership with Alpaca accelerates Binance’s move into traditional markets and tokenized equities while exposing the exchange to familiar brokerage debates over revenue models and user transparency. For Alpaca, it expands distribution through a major crypto venue — a mutually useful arrangement as the lines between crypto trading and traditional investing continue to blur.
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