Binance deepens TradFi push with physically settled options on over 1,000 US equities

Binance is putting options on more than 1,000 selected US stocks and exchange-traded funds inside the same account that already offers crypto and several forms of equity exposure.

The product is limited to eligible users outside the US, and the securities machinery behind the offer does not belong to Binance.

The company said on Sept. 1 that Nest Trading Limited will introduce the orders and route them to Alpaca Securities LLC. Alpaca will execute, clear, and settle the trades, then custody any shares delivered when an option is exercised.

Eligible customers can move among more products without leaving Binance, while Nest and Alpaca carry distinct responsibilities behind the scenes.

Who does what behind Binance

Binance is the customer-facing access point, Nest Trading is the introducing broker, and Alpaca provides execution and post-trade infrastructure.

An options customer places an order through Binance, but Nest introduces it to Alpaca. If physical settlement produces shares, Binance says Alpaca holds them on the user's behalf.

Nest's Abu Dhabi Global Market register lists the firm as active under financial services permission 260000. Its permitted activities include arranging deals, dealing as an agent, and arranging custody, but the register says Nest cannot hold or control client money.

Alpaca's FINRA BrokerCheck profile identifies the firm as SEC- and FINRA-approved and lists options activity, securities clearing and settlement, and electronic trading among businesses it conducts or expects to conduct.

The profile also says Alpaca can hold or maintain funds or securities and provide clearing services for other broker-dealers.

The contracts are physically settled. Exercising a call can produce the underlying shares, while exercising a put can require delivery of them. Until exercise and settlement, the option is a contractual right.

Binance says an exercise instruction must be submitted through its platform by the relevant cutoff, as late as 30 minutes before expiry. Even an in-the-money contract will not exercise automatically without that instruction.

A position without an instruction becomes subject to best-efforts auto-liquidation before trading closes. If it cannot be sold, it may expire worthless, leaving the holder with a loss of the premium.

Binance said eligible retail users may buy calls and puts, with maximum potential loss limited to the premium. The statement does not extend that defined-loss description to option-writing strategies.

The exchange also says that the options remain subject to jurisdictional and user restrictions. Alpaca's options documentation says every customer account must be approved before its first options trade, with financial circumstances, experience, risk tolerance and investment objectives supplied alongside a signed options agreement.

Four products behind one account

The options join three existing routes to equity exposure inside Binance. A single account can make them look adjacent, but their ownership and settlement mechanics differ.

Binance made the ownership distinction explicit when it introduced direct stock trading and previewed bStocks in June. It said direct-stock users would own equities held by a US-regulated clearing broker, while bStocks would not give holders direct ownership of the underlying company shares.

The options add another regulated route, consolidating convenience for users.

Shunyet Jan, Binance's head of exchange and trading, called stock options an “important next step” toward a “fuller multi-asset platform.” Binance said equity-linked perpetuals generated about $342.9 billion in volume during August, represented about 79% of its TradFi perpetual activity and grew more than 800-fold from January.

The launch release shows how Binance is presenting demand within its own ecosystem, but it does not establish how much demand the new physically settled contracts will attract.

The options announcement expands what a crypto account can distribute. Binance controls product discovery and the customer experience, while Nest and Alpaca define the operational route into regulated securities markets.

That structure gives Binance much of the strategic benefit of a securities super-app without making it the entity that executes, clears, or custodies every product on screen.

For users, the practical test is whether they understand which firm holds the asset, which rules govern the account, and which action they must take before an option expires.