Crypto Exchanges Now Let You Trade Stocks 24/7 With 'Perps'

Crypto platforms like Coinbase and Binance are bringing stocks and the S&P 500 to their apps, with trading soaring to $1.32 trillion in 2026.

Imagine being able to bet on the price of Tesla or the entire U.S. stock market at 3 a.m. — without ever owning a single share. That's exactly what crypto exchanges are now offering, in a trend some are calling the "reverse bridge."

Here's the background. A couple of years ago, Wall Street (the traditional finance world) started bringing crypto to regular investors through products like ETFs (exchange-traded funds — investments you can buy like a stock that track the price of something, such as Bitcoin). Now the flow is going the other way: crypto exchanges are bringing stocks to their platforms.

They do this using perpetual futures ("perps") — contracts that let you bet on whether a price will go up or down, without owning the actual asset and with no expiration date. So you get exposure to a stock's price, but you don't get real ownership, voting rights, or the legal protections of buying through a regular broker.

The numbers are exploding:

Trading volume hit $1.32 trillion in just the first 5 months of 2026
That compares to only $104.21 billion in all of 2025
Monthly volume jumped from $230 million (Jan 2025) to $347 billion (May 2026)
Around 360 traditional assets (stocks, indexes, commodities) are now listed

Exchange Bitget says stock perps now make up 28% of its trading — up from zero a year ago.

Who's using this?

Big institutions like it because they can adjust positions instantly, without waiting for U.S. markets to open
Everyday investors abroad use it for access — some can't easily buy Tesla or S&P 500 exposure locally

Big players like Coinbase and Binance want to become an "everything exchange" — one app where you trade crypto, stocks, and more, even using your stock positions as collateral (something you pledge to back a loan or trade).

Bottom line: The line between crypto and traditional stock trading is blurring fast. Just remember — with perps, you're betting on prices, not truly owning stocks.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/08/02/the-reverse-bridge-crypto-meets-wall-street-using-perps