Crypto World
Global M&A stays strong in 2026 despite tightest capital squeeze in 30 years
A Goldman Sachs logo is displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, on Wednesday, August 11, 2010.
Ramin Talaie | Corbis Historical | Getty Images
The global mergers and acquisitions boom that defined 2025 is carrying into 2026, as companies reassess their portfolios and artificial intelligence-led demand fuels large-scale transactions. However, a tightening capital pool is forcing executives to be more selective than ever.
Despite a sluggish start as Trump’s sweeping tariffs early last year briefly scuttled acquisitions and new public listings, the total value of deal-making activity surged 40% to $4.9 trillion in 2025, according to Bain & Company’s annual M&A report.
That marked the second-highest level on record, trailing only the $5.6 trillion peak in 2021, when low borrowing costs and buoyant equity markets propelled a historic dealmaking frenzy.
Dealmaking activity last year rebounded as central banks cut interest rates, valuations improved and companies increased spending on artificial intelligence.
Markets are betting that the surge will continue, as Wall Street regains its appetite for large deals amid the prospect of lower borrowing costs.
A Bain survey of 300 M&A executives found that 80% expect to sustain or increase deal activity this year, citing improved macroeconomic conditions and a growing backlog of private equity and venture capital assets awaiting exit.
As abrupt shifts in trade policies settled into a pattern of less threatening change, relief turned into confidence and then a fear of missing out.
Jake Henry
Global co-leader, McKinsey’s M&A Practice.
Goldman Sachs, drawing on its own poll of 600 corporate and financial sponsor clients, found that 57% believe scale and strategic growth will be the primary driver of deal decisions this year.
“As abrupt shifts in trade policies settled into a pattern of less threatening change, relief turned into confidence and then a fear of missing out,” said Jake Henry, global coleader of McKinsey’s M&A Practice.
Central to the shift is a decisive push by companies to reassess their portfolios, as geopolitical risks, economic fragmentation and uneven global growth force boards to reconsider where they operate and the risks they are willing to take.
“Leaders across industries recognize that many traditional business models have reached the limits of their historical growth engines,” said Suzanne Kumar, executive vice president of Bain’s global M&A and divestiture practice.
“Companies urgently need to reinvent themselves to get out ahead of the big forces of technology disruption, a post-globalization economy, and shifting profit pools,” Kumar added.
Goldman topped the global M&A ranking last year, advising on nearly 40 deals worth $1.48 trillion in total volume. It marked the strongest period for mega-deals by volume, according to Reuters, citing LSEG records dating back to 1980.
Still, companies remain cautious. Boston Consulting Group’s M&A sentiment index rebounded to 75 from its low in late 2022 — but still remained well below the long-term average of 100, reflecting “an improving but cautious stance.” A higher value than the prior month indicates that M&A market momentum is accelerating, while a lower value suggests a deceleration.
Tightest funding squeeze in decades
While the appetite for deals remains strong, the pool of discretionary capital to fund them is historically thin, forcing executives to pursue only transactions that deliver clear returns.
The proportion of capital allocated to M&A hit a 30-year low in 2025, according to Bain, as companies directed more cash towards dividends, buybacks, capital expenditures as well as research and development.
“Executives must pressure test whether M&A pathways and specific deals will help the company better compete in the most attractive markets … rethink portfolio boundaries, and make bigger, bolder decisions about what capabilities they must own vs. access,” said Kumar.
“As competing demands for capital raise the bar for deals, disciplined reinvention and value creation are essential,” she added.
The funding crunch has pushed private capital to the center of dealmaking. Private equity firms are seeking to deploy idle cash, borrowers are turning to private credit funds for flexibility, and sovereign wealth funds are increasingly acting as lead investors rather than passive backers.
Private equity now accounts for roughly 40% of global M&A activity, according to Goldman. Despite signs of stress in the private credit market — now valued at roughly $2.1 trillion — Goldman expects the asset class to more than double by 2030, broadening the pool of capital available to fund large transactions.
AI capital expenditure ‘supercycle’
Blockbuster deals are fueling the resurgence in M&A, powered by AI-related demand, according to industry reports.
Mega-deals valued at greater than $5 billion accounted for more than 73% of the increase in deal value in 2025, according to Bain.
The number of deals exceeding the $10 billion threshold swelled to 60 last year, the highest level since 2021, said McKinsey’s Henry.
“We expect more big deals in 2026, with continued consolidation and geographic expansion,” Henry said, with AI-related service providers fueling “big-deal fever” this year.
However, the heavy capital spending in AI could constrain M&A activity in the near term, Brian Levy, global deals industries leader at PwC, said.
As AI adoption accelerates, demand for computing power has surged across digital infrastructure, energy, semiconductors, and hardware optimization. In response, many companies are opting to acquire rather than build across the technology stack.
Between the first quarter of 2024 and the third quarter of last year, U.S. hyperscalers’ capital expenditures averaged $760 million per day, according to Goldman Sachs.
The Wall Street bank estimates that by 2030, another 65 gigawatts of data center capacity will come online — more than double the amount added from 2019 to 2024.
“Investment in AI is being directed towards data centres, energy, and other infrastructure as well as technology development and customisation,” Levy said.
“In the near term, the scale of this multitrillion-dollar investment may divert capital and temper M&A activity.”
Bitcoin price is attempting a recovery near $65,000 as the Coinbase Premium turns positive despite recent exchange-traded fund outflows.
Summary
- Bitcoin price prediction leans towards trend reversal as the Coinbase Premium flips positive.
- The metric indicates strong U.S. demand returning after recent ETF outflows.
- Price must reclaim key resistance to confirm a stronger recovery.
Bitcoin was trading at $65,907 at press time, up 3.4% in the last 24 hours. The move follows a drop to $62,900 within the past week, where buyers stepped in.
Even with the bounce, Bitcoin (BTC) is still down 24% over the past month and about 50% below its October 2025 all-time high of $126,050.
Trading activity increased during the recovery. Spot volume reached $46 billion, up 22% day over day. In derivatives markets, CoinGlass data shows futures volume up 6.2% to $74.8 billion, while open interest slipped 0.1% to $43.9 billion.
This suggests some traders are closing positions rather than adding aggressive leverage.
Coinbase premium turns positive
On Feb. 25, the Coinbase Premium Index turned positive for the first time in 40 days, hitting 0.0525%, according to CoinGlass.
The index measures the price difference between Coinbase and global exchanges. A positive reading means Bitcoin trades slightly higher on Coinbase, which often reflects stronger U.S. demand.
This shift comes at a time when U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded heavy outflows, with roughly $3.8 billion exiting recently. That contrast is important. While ETFs have seen capital leave, the premium suggests some U.S. buyers are stepping back in through exchange flows.
In past cycles, sustained positive premiums have aligned with accumulation phases and relief rallies. However, a single flip does not confirm a trend change. Traders will watch if the premium widens and holds over several sessions.
Bitcoin price prediction: Is the trend reversing?
Bitcoin is attempting to stabilize after a sharp corrective phase. On the daily chart, price is still trading below its short-term trend pivot near the mid-Bollinger band around the high -$67,000 area.
That zone now acts as the line that separates a relief bounce from a stronger recovery attempt.
Momentum indicators show improvement from oversold conditions, with the relative strength index climbing from sub-30 levels earlier in February. Bulls have not yet completely taken back control, though, as the RSI is still below the midpoint.
The recovery might reach the low -$70,000 area if the Coinbase Premium holds positive and Bitcoin breaks through the mid-band resistance with growing spot volume. A move into that zone would shift short-term structure and increase confidence that the trend has reversed.
On the other hand, failure to reclaim resistance would keep the price vulnerable to another pullback toward the mid -$64,000 area. A break below that support would raise the risk of a deeper move toward $60,000.
TLDR
- Binance has relaunched tokenized stocks trading through a partnership with Ondo Finance on Binance Alpha.
- The platform lists 10 tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs, and commodity-linked products.
- Users in the United States cannot access the new tokenized stock offerings.
- Binance previously halted a similar service in 2021 after regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
- Ondo Finance has recorded over $550 million in locked value and $11 billion in cumulative trading volume since September 2025.
Binance has relaunched tokenized stocks trading through a new partnership with Ondo Finance. The exchange will list 10 tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs, and commodity-linked products on Binance Alpha. The move marks Binance’s return to this market nearly five years after halting a similar service.
Binance and Ondo Finance Launch Tokenized Equities on Alpha
Binance has partnered with Ondo Finance to introduce tokenized versions of major U.S. equities on Binance Alpha. The platform operates within Binance Wallet and targets early-stage digital asset offerings. Users can trade blockchain-based versions of Apple, Google, Tesla, and Nvidia shares.
The lineup also includes the Invesco QQQ ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq index. Binance confirmed that users in the United States cannot access these tokenized stocks. Jeff Li, Binance’s vice president of product, said, “Our users now have even more convenient ways to explore and trade tokenized stocks.”
Binance Alpha allows access to projects before they reach the centralized spot marketplace. The company positions the platform as a gateway for higher-risk digital assets. Through this structure, Binance expands product access while keeping trading within its wallet ecosystem.
Ondo Finance issues the tokenized equities listed on the platform. The company focuses on bridging traditional financial assets with blockchain networks. Binance integrates these tokens directly into its wallet infrastructure.
Binance previously launched tokenized stocks in April 2021, starting with Tesla shares. The exchange later added Coinbase, Strategy, Microsoft, and Apple to the offering. However, regulators in the United Kingdom and Germany raised compliance concerns.
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority and Germany’s BaFin reviewed the product structure. Following regulatory scrutiny, Binance discontinued the service within months. The company has now resumed tokenized equities through its collaboration with Ondo Finance.
Last month, Binance stated that it was considering a renewed push into tokenized equities. The latest listings on Binance Alpha confirm that plan. The rollout follows growing activity in blockchain-based stock trading platforms.
Tokenized Stocks Market Expands Across Exchanges
Tokenized stocks have grown across crypto exchanges and traditional brokerages. The sector’s total value approaches $1 billion, according to recent market data. Ondo Finance reports more than $550 million in locked value.
The company also recorded $11 billion in cumulative trading volume since September 2025. Other exchanges, including Kraken, Bybit, and Gemini, have introduced similar products. Robinhood has also launched tokenized equity trading services.
Traditional exchanges have also outlined plans involving stock tokens. Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange have presented proposals tied to blockchain-based trading models. These developments align with Binance’s renewed entry into tokenized equities through Ondo Finance.
The biggest Bitcoin ATM operator in the US has begun phasing in a new requirement for users to provide identification for every transaction at its crypto ATMs amid increasing pressure from regulators and lawmakers for operators to curb illicit activity.
Bitcoin Depot said on Tuesday that it began the rollout earlier in February across the company’s US network ATMs, with the goal of helping to detect suspicious activity in real time and eliminate misuse by bad actors, such as account sharing, identity theft, and account takeover.
“Continuous verification allows us to detect suspicious activity based on customers, locations, or transaction amount before a transaction is approved,” Bitcoin Depot CEO Scott Buchanan said in a statement.
Bitcoin Depot implemented ID requirements in October, but only for all new users to its service. Buchanan said that “by requiring identity verification at every transaction, we are taking an additional step to strengthen security, protect customers, and maintain the integrity of our services.”
The US is the largest hub for Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs, with Coin ATM Radar listing 31,360 machines, accounting for 78% of the worldwide total. Bitcoin Depot is the market leader in the country with 9,019 kiosks.
Bitcoin Depot faces state-level lawsuits
Scammers have long used crypto ATMs as a way to receive funds from unwitting victims, as the kiosks are widespread and their transactions are irreversible, leading regulators and lawmakers to crack down on crypto ATM operators.
The advocacy organisation, the American Association of Retired Persons, reported in February that 17 US states have passed laws requiring crypto ATM operators to implement protections, including daily transaction limits, fraud warning signs, and licensing requirements.
Related: Crypto ATM limits and bans sweep across US: Here’s why
Bitcoin Depot has caught the ire of state regulators, as Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell sued Bitcoin Depot earlier this month, alleging the company has not implemented sufficient safeguards to prevent scams. Campbell is seeking a court order to bar Bitcoin Depot from processing large transactions without additional user protections.
In January, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey reached a $1.9 million settlement with Bitcoin Depot to reimburse individuals who lost money to scams while using the company’s ATMs.
Last year, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird launched a lawsuit against both Bitcoin Depot and its rival Coinflip, alleging the operators failed to implement adequate protections to prevent scams.
Magazine: 6 massive challenges Bitcoin faces on the road to quantum security
Mastercard is hiring a Director of Crypto Flows to lead stablecoin-linked card issuance, scale DeFi payment flows, and rewrite network rules for Web3 transactions.
The job posting, first surfaced by crypto journalist Frank Chaparro on Feb. 24, signals a structural push beyond the pilot-stage experiments the payments giant has run so far.
The Timing That Writes Itself
Days earlier, Citrini Research published “The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis,” a doomsday scenario that rapidly went viral on Substack. The report maps a chain reaction in which AI agents progressively dismantle fee-based intermediaries — and payment networks sit squarely in the blast radius. Citrini specifically names Mastercard’s Q1 2027 earnings as a potential inflection point, the moment when agentic commerce begins routing around card interchange via stablecoins.
The logic is straightforward. When AI agents transact on behalf of consumers, a 2-3% card interchange fee becomes an irrational cost. Stablecoin rails settle the same transaction for near zero. In that world, Mastercard doesn’t lose to a competitor. It loses to a protocol.
The gap Mastercard needs to close
The vulnerability is not hypothetical. Stablecoins transferred $18.4 trillion in value in 2024, surpassing both Visa ($15.7 trillion) and Mastercard ($9.8 trillion) in raw volume, according to Artemis Analytics. The comparison is imperfect — much of that is trading, not payments — but the directional signal is clear.
Mastercard’s own CEO, Michael Miebach, told analysts in January that the company is “leaning in” to stablecoins and agentic commerce, calling the latter a trend in which “the train is leaving the station.” Yet he framed stablecoins as “another currency we can support within our network.”
That framing is precisely what Citrini challenges. The doomsday thesis is not that stablecoins replace card payments at today’s checkout counter. It is that a new category of commerce — machine-to-machine, micropayment-dense, 24/7 — will emerge entirely outside the card network’s design envelope.
Building rails or getting routed around
The new role suggests Mastercard is beginning to internalize this risk. Mastercard has laid the groundwork: onboarding multiple stablecoins onto its network in June 2025, expanding Circle’s USDC settlement across the Middle East and Africa, and reportedly pursuing a $2 billion acquisition of crypto infrastructure startup zerohash.
But the gap with Visa persists. Visa’s on-chain stablecoin settlement reached an annual run rate of $3.5 billion by late 2025. Crypto-native issuers like Rain and Reap built their card programs primarily on Visa rails, with Rain scaling to over $3 billion annualized after securing direct Visa membership. Industry analysis suggests Visa’s early crypto-native alignment translated into share, while Mastercard’s exchange-focused approach generated less volume.
Coincidence or confirmation
Regardless of whether Mastercard’s hiring push was triggered by Citrini’s report, the more important reading is that the diagnosis is converging. A research outfit writing from 2028 and a payments giant hiring in 2026 point at the same fault line. Card networks that cannot accommodate stablecoin-native commerce will be bypassed, not disrupted.
The canary, as Citrini wrote, is still alive. The question is whether Mastercard is building a bridge to close the gap—or just hiring someone to watch it widen.
CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.
The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 1816.14, down 2.0% (-36.33) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.
One of the 20 assets is trading higher.
Leaders: ICP (+1.2%) and NEAR (-0.3%).
Laggards: BCH (-4.2%) and SUI (-2.5%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking a portion of its treasury holdings, marking a significant shift in how the organization manages its ETH reserves.
Summary
- The Ethereum Foundation has begun staking its treasury, starting with a 2,016 ETH deposit and planning to stake approximately 70,000 ETH in total.
- Staking rewards will be directed back to the foundation’s treasury to help fund core operations, including protocol R&D, ecosystem grants and community development.
- The validator setup uses open-source tools from Attestant, including Dirk and Vouch, with a focus on distributed signing, minority clients and multi-jurisdiction infrastructure.
Ethereum Foundation puts treasury to work with 70K ETH staking plan
In a post on X, the foundation said it has made an initial deposit of 2,016 Ethereum (ETH) and plans to stake approximately 70,000 ETH in total, with staking rewards directed back into its treasury. The move follows a Treasury Policy announced last year and is designed to both support network security and help fund the foundation’s core operations.
The staking setup is being implemented using open-source tools developed by Attestant, including Dirk and Vouch.
Dirk functions as a distributed signer, allowing validators to be operated across multiple jurisdictions and reducing the risk of a single point of failure.
Vouch enables the use of multiple consensus and execution client pairings, helping mitigate client diversity risks, a key concern for Ethereum’s decentralization model. The foundation said its validator setup incorporates minority clients and a mix of hosted infrastructure and self-managed hardware spread across several regions.
The announcement comes at a notable moment for Ethereum. Recently co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold roughly $7 million worth of ETH amid a broader price pullback, sparking discussion about treasury management and market signals.
At the same time, the foundation has been expanding ecosystem support through new grant initiatives, including updates to its Ecosystem Support Program aimed at funding protocol research, community development and public goods projects.
By staking a portion of its holdings, the foundation is effectively putting dormant ETH to work, generating yield while reinforcing validator participation. The move aligns the treasury more closely with Ethereum’s proof-of-stake design and provides an additional funding stream for long-term development efforts without relying solely on asset sales.
Payment processing firm Stripe is reportedly considering an acquisition of all or parts of its rival PayPal Holdings.
Stripe is in early talks and has expressed preliminary interest in PayPal or parts of its business, though no deal is guaranteed, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
It comes as Stripe, which enables enterprises to accept payments, make payouts, and automate financial processes, said on Tuesday that it was valued at $159 billion in a tender offer to shareholders and employees, a 74% jump from a year ago.
The move comes as PayPal has been reportedly struggling to compete with the likes of Google Pay and Apple Pay, which are embedded in consumer smartphones.
Stripe president John Collison told Bloomberg that “PayPal has had, obviously, a tough time over the past few years, and the landscape has changed quite a bit with Apple Pay and Google Pay and everything like that.”
“I can’t talk about any, you know, M&A [mergers and acquisitions] hypotheticals, but they’ve definitely had a tough time,” he added.
PayPal stock gains on the day
PayPal is also in leadership transition, with new CEO Enrique Lores set to take over on March 1 following the ouster of Alex Chriss, amid missed earnings estimates and slowing payment volumes.
Related: PayPal draws takeover interest following 46% stock slide: Report
PayPal stock (PYPL) gained 6.74% on Tuesday to end the day trading at $47.02, according to Google Finance. However, shares in the payments platform have declined almost 20% since the beginning of this year and are down 85% from their 2021 all-time high of just over $300.
PayPal, Stripe have serious stablecoin ambitions
PayPal began offering crypto trading in the US in 2020 and launched its own stablecoin PYUSD in 2023. The dollar-pegged asset has gained traction in recent months with its market capitalization topping $4 billion for the first time on Feb. 14.
Stripe has also been dabbling in crypto with its stablecoin platform Bridge, which received conditional approval to operate as a federally chartered national trust bank under the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Feb. 17.
Stripe first offered stablecoin-based accounts globally in May 2025. A merger could see the new entity become a serious player in the stablecoin market.
Magazine: Bitdeer sells all Bitcoin, Metaplanet rejects misconduct claims: Asia Express
Bitcoin fell below 200-week EMA, over 52% off peak, risking death-cross capitulation.
Summary
- BTC closed last week under the 200-week EMA, a key confluence zone tied to post-halving re-accumulation range highs, after three weeks of elevated sell volume and weak demand.
- Analysts warn BTC may retest the underside of the 200-week EMA as new resistance, echoing 2018 and 2022 structures that triggered a second bearish acceleration wave.
- BTC has dropped over 52% from its October top and approaches a 3-day 50/200 SMA death cross by late February, historically followed by an additional 45%-52% drawdown.
Bitcoin (BTC) closed the week below a critical support level, falling beneath that threshold for the first time since early February and reaching a two-week low, according to market data. Analysts have warned that the cryptocurrency could face additional downward pressure.
Analyst Rekt Capital stated that Bitcoin closed last week below the 200-week Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which sits at the center of a major confluence zone. The 200-week EMA aligns with the Post-Halving Re-accumulation Range highs, while the Post-Halving Re-accumulation Range lows define the broader structure of Bitcoin’s current range, according to the analyst.
Over the past three weeks, the cryptocurrency attempted to develop a demand region around this area, which was previously a major supply area, Rekt Capital noted. The analyst stated that this level has not historically been a structurally reliable support, noting that it previously acted as a 10-month resistance.
“In the current structure, we have seen three consecutive weeks of elevated sell-side volume in this region, with limited meaningful buy-side response,” the analyst stated in a post. The imbalance led to a weekly close below the 200-week EMA, losing it as support in this timeframe, according to the analysis.
Rekt Capital stated that there is a strong probability that Bitcoin will press back toward the underside of that EMA to attempt turning it into new resistance. If the underside retest holds, the structure would shift from defending the support to confirming the resistance at this level, the analyst said. The analyst added that if that level begins to act as resistance, downside continuation will become increasingly probable.
The analyst also noted that Bitcoin’s recent performance aligns closely with its price action in prior cycles. In 2018 and 2022, a weekly close below the 200-week EMA acted as a structural trigger to the second wave of bearish acceleration, according to the analysis. “Bitcoin would attempt to reclaim the level, turn it into resistance, and then dissipate lower. That pattern is now attempting to replicate itself,” Rekt Capital stated.
Analyst Ali Martinez pointed to the cryptocurrency’s historical performance on the three-day chart, stating that this has been one of Bitcoin’s key timeframes from a macro perspective. Martinez said market observers must watch the upcoming interaction of the 50-day and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), as the crossover between these two indicators on the three-day timeframe has historically preceded the final leg down of the bear market.
Bitcoin dropped approximately 50% to 72% from its cycle tops in past cycles before death crosses took place in subsequent years, according to historical data. Following those SMA crossovers, the cryptocurrency experienced another 45% to 52% decline, Martinez noted. Bitcoin has fallen more than 52% from its October peak and is approaching a potential death cross on the three-day chart by the end of February, according to the analyst.
“If history repeats — even partially — this could signal the beginning of the final leg down of this cycle,” Martinez stated. The analyst predicted that another substantial correction from current levels could follow, placing the cryptocurrency’s target near lower support levels. “If the cross confirms, it becomes a level to take very seriously,” Martinez said.
Binance has added support for tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds on its Alpha trading platform, giving users new ways to access traditional assets through blockchain-based products.
Summary
- Binance Alpha listed Ondo tokenized securities on its platform.
- The launch includes 10 major U.S. stocks and ETFs with low or zero trading fees.
- The move marks Binance’s return to tokenized equities under clearer regulations.
The update allows users to trade tokenized securities directly using funds held on Binance Exchange, without moving assets to external wallets. Trading is available through the Alpha section of the platform.
The initial rollout includes 10 products, covering major technology stocks and the Nasdaq-100 ETF. At launch, supported assets include tokenized versions of Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and the Invesco QQQ ETF.
Regulated structure and trading features
Binance said the tokenized securities are classified as structured products under regulations issued by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority in Abu Dhabi’s Abu Dhabi Global Market. Under this framework, the products are offered in approved jurisdictions and are not available to users in the United States.
Each token is designed to reflect the market price of its underlying stock or ETF. While holders gain exposure to price movements, they do not receive voting rights or other shareholder privileges.
The exchange said users can place both market and limit orders through the Alpha interface. Trading fees may fall to 0%, and gas fees for placing and canceling orders are being waived for a limited period.
Binance also introduced a rewards system tied to the new listings. By trading or holding tokenized securities, users can accrue Alpha Points, which can then be redeemed for token sales, promotions, and airdrops.
Ondo Global Markets has reported a total value locked of more than $550 million since its launch last year. The company has focused on developing compliant infrastructure for tokenized stocks and ETFs.
Return to tokenized equities and market impact
After closing a similar product in 2021 due to regulatory pressure, Binance is making a comeback to tokenized stocks with this listing. Since then, the exchange has adopted a more cautious stance, emphasizing regional approvals and regulated structures.
Binance can now re-enter the market while lowering legal risk thanks to the partnership with Ondo. For users outside the U.S., the products offer access to popular equities that may otherwise be difficult to trade directly.
The integration has also drawn attention to Ondo’s wider plans, including its work on a dedicated blockchain for institutional real-world assets and its expansion into derivatives and structured finance products.
Following the announcement, Ondo (ONDO) token gained about 5% as trading activity surged. Market observers say the move reflects rising demand for regulated ways to trade traditional assets through crypto platforms.
Binance stated that it may expand its tokenized securities lineup in the future, depending on user demand and regulatory developments.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is returning to offer tokenized stocks nearly five years after shelving a similar product under regulatory pressure.
The exchange has teamed up with tokenization specialist Ondo Finance to list 10 tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs and commodity-linked products on the Binance Alpha platform, the companies said in a Tuesday press release.
Binance Alpha is a platform within Binance Wallet, the exchange’s crypto wallet service, that allows users to trade early-stage, riskier crypto projects before listing them on the centralized spot marketplace.
The lineup includes blockchain-based token versions of Apple, Google, Tesla and Nvidia shares, along with the Invesco’s Nasdaq-tracking QQQ ETF.
The tokenized stocks are not available to users in the United States.
“Our users now have even more convenient ways to explore and trade tokenized securities, in line with our mission to offer innovative and accessible trading opportunities,” Jeff Li, Binance’s vice president of product, said in a statement.
The move marks a comeback for Binance, having offered tokenized stocks in April 2021 with Tesla and later added Coinbase, Strategy, Microsoft and Apple, before shutting the service after scrutiny from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority and Germany’s BaFin.
Last month, Binance said it was weighing a fresh push into tokenized equities. Listing the Ondo-issued tokens on the platform now puts that plan into action.
Tokenized stocks have gained traction across crypto and traditional finance, with sector’s total value is approaching $1 billion, led by Ondo’s more than $550 million in locked value and $11 billion in cumulative trading volume since September 2025.
Trading venues such as Kraken, Bybit and Gemini and brokerages like Robinhood rolled out their versions of tokenized equities trading. Wall Street exchanges such as Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) also laid out plans to offer trading with stocks tokens.
Blockchain-based stocks can widen investor access, especially to retail users in developing countries without easy access to brokerage accounts offering U.S. stocks, proponents say. The tokens can also serve as collateral for borrowing in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Read more: NYSE’s 24/7 plan could fix key problem for stock tokens, Ondo’s de Bode says
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Bitcoin price prediction as Coinbase Premium flips positive
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