Crypto.com Tests Regulatory Waters With Tokenized Stock Derivatives

Crypto.com is sidestepping the securities question. On August 12, the exchange began offering tokenized stock derivatives that track the price of equities without conferring any ownership rights, according to a CoinDesk report. The move pushes the platform deeper into a tokenized stock market that has ballooned by 600% over the past year, even as regulators circle the sector.

Users can now take directional bets on major stocks using USDT as collateral, settling positions in crypto without ever touching a traditional brokerage. The derivatives are structured as perpetual contracts with automatic roll-over, according to the exchange. That design mimics the extremely popular crypto perpetual swaps, but it also keeps the entire product firmly in the derivatives world—a critical detail for the lawyers.

The Tokenized Stock Boom

The tokenized equities market is no longer a niche. Its rapid 600% annual expansion has drawn exchanges and market makers eager to capture fees from crypto-native traders who want exposure to Tesla, Apple, or NVIDIA without leaving their exchange of choice. Earlier attempts by major exchanges to offer tokenized stocks directly hit a wall. Binance pulled its stock tokens in 2021 after regulators in Europe and Hong Kong flagged them as unregistered securities. FTX also offered similar products, but those vanished alongside the exchange’s collapse. Those early experiments served as a warning: actual share ownership, even wrapped in a token, invites securities law enforcement. Crypto.com learned the lesson and built something that doesn’t touch equities.