According to ChainCatcher, citing The Information, Binance is exploring relaunching its stock tokens on its platform, a product it delisted in 2021. Stock tokens are digital tokens representing shares of publicly traded companies. Investors don't need to buy entire shares of Apple or Microsoft stock; instead, they can purchase portions of the stock. These tokens are held and settled on the blockchain and track the price of the underlying asset in real time.
Binance launched its stock token service in April 2021, initially listing Tesla stock, and quickly expanding to Coinbase, Strategy, Microsoft, and Apple. This move drew the attention of regulators, with the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) questioning whether the tokens violated securities laws. By July of that year, Binance had shut down the service.
OKX Global Managing Partner Haider Rafique told The Information that OKX is also looking into this area. In the US, traditional financial institutions are also trying to enter the market, with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq seeking regulatory approval to launch equity token products.
A Binance spokesperson told The Information, "Exploring the possibility of offering equity tokens is a natural next step in our mission to more closely integrate traditional finance with cryptocurrency." However, legal hurdles remain. Equity tokens are one of several unresolved issues in the crypto market structure bill currently being pushed through Congress. Industry insiders say that the launch of such products will be delayed under the current provisions of the bill. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has publicly opposed the bill, calling for amendments to allow the SEC to exempt certain equity token offerings from standard securities rules.
