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Bybit just moved well beyond crypto. The exchange launched trading in more than 1,000 US-listed stocks and ETFs, letting clients pay with USDC stablecoin — a pretty sharp pivot for a platform built on derivatives.
Why It Matters
This development highlights a significant trend in the cryptocurrency marketplace, where exchanges are diversifying their offerings to retain and attract users in a competitive environment. By allowing direct trading of US stocks using stablecoins, Bybit is not only expanding its product suite but also bridging the gap between traditional finance and digital assets, potentially appealing to a broader investor base. This move could signal a shift in how crypto platforms position themselves amidst evolving regulatory landscapes and changing investor preferences.
CEO Ben Zhou said the inclusion of real stocks is crucial to Bybit’s evolution. The exchange had already offered equity derivatives — stock CFDs on names like Apple and Tesla — but those are derivative contracts, not actual ownership stakes. The new service is different. Clients get an economic interest in the underlying securities themselves. Fractional shares are available, so traders don’t need to drop a full share price to get exposure. There’s no commission on eligible trades. Pre-market and after-hours trading are both on the table. And cash dividends get converted into USDC, which is kind of the whole point — keeping everything inside the crypto ecosystem while still touching real-world assets. The service runs through Infra Capital Limited, regulated by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius, while Alpaca Securities — a US broker-dealer — handles clearing, settlement, and custody. Bybit calls the whole thing part of its “New Financial Platform” plan.
Alpaca Is Becoming the Go-To Bridge
Alpaca isn’t new to this. Kraken partnered with the same broker-dealer in 2025 to roll out US stock trading for its own clients. That deal came with serious financial muscle behind it — $300 million in debt financing from Kraken’s parent company and Canadian bank BMO. Kraken’s version covered more than 11,000 US stocks and ETFs. It later expanded to the European Economic Area, where clients could access over 7,000 US equities through Kraken’s Cypriot entity, which holds a MiFID II authorization. So Alpaca is basically becoming the infrastructure layer that crypto exchanges plug into when they want to touch traditional equity markets. Bybit is the latest to make that call.
The two services aren’t identical, though. Bybit’s stock trading and its existing derivatives products — FX perpetuals, stock CFDs — sit on different accounts. They don’t merge. That’s probably fine for now, but it does add some friction for users who want a single unified view of their portfolio.
Voting rights are coming. Bybit said so. No timeline was given.
Where the Broader Market Is Heading
There’s a separate thread worth following here. Ostium, an onchain derivatives platform, is going after the same general territory but from a decentralized angle. Ostium focuses on CFD-style trading in stocks, commodities, and FX — executed directly from clients’ wallets, without owning the underlying assets. Institutional partners including Jump help traders hedge positions. Ostium puts the global CFD market at a monthly volume of $10 trillion. That’s a big number. It shows just how much appetite exists for derivative exposure to traditional assets, even among traders who’d rather not deal with a centralized exchange.
Bybit’s approach is centralized and regulated through Mauritius. Ostium’s is onchain. Both are chasing the same underlying demand — traders who want flexibility across asset classes without bouncing between platforms.
And the equity-linked perpetual contract space is already moving fast. In June, trading volume in those contracts hit $141 billion across crypto exchanges, up sharply from the prior month. That kind of growth doesn’t happen without real user demand pushing it.
So Bybit isn’t just reacting to a trend. It’s catching a wave that’s been building for a while — crypto traders want traditional market access, and traditional market infrastructure is increasingly willing to plug into crypto platforms to get that distribution.
The specific jurisdictions where Bybit’s new stock service is available weren’t disclosed. Verified clients in select markets can get in, but the exchange didn’t spell out which ones. That’s going to frustrate some potential users. No details on when that list might expand, either.
What’s clear is that the commission-free structure and fractional share access are designed to lower the barrier. You don’t need to be a high-net-worth trader to participate. That’s a deliberate choice — Bybit is going broad, not niche.
Dividend payments flowing back as USDC is a small but telling detail. It’s not just a convenience feature. It keeps capital inside the crypto ecosystem rather than routing it back to a traditional bank account. For Bybit’s core user base, that probably matters.
In June, equity-linked perpetual contracts on crypto exchanges hit $141 billion in monthly volume.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What US stocks can Bybit clients now trade?
Bybit offers access to more than 1,000 US-listed stocks and ETFs, with purchases made using USDC stablecoin and no commission on eligible trades.
Which broker-dealer executes and clears Bybit’s stock trades?
Alpaca Securities, a US broker-dealer, handles clearing, settlement, and custody for Bybit’s new stock trading service.
