币安进军美股：解构bStocks背后的通证化证券基础设施AlpacaTL;DR：币安进军美股市场，Alpaca成为关键基础设施提供商：币安正在向非美国用户开放美股和ETF交易服务，并计划推出链上证券产品bStocks。在这个生态系统中，Alpaca 处理执行、清算和托管等核心证券基础设施组件，在连接加密货币市场与美国证券市场方面发挥着至关重要的作用。从 API 经纪到 RWA 基础设施：Alpaca 从算法交易软件公司转型为美国自助清算经纪公司。通过其经纪 API 提供标准化和模块化的证券交易功能，被视为“证券交易地带”。目前，其服务覆盖全球数百家合作伙伴和数百万个终端账户。 自清算能力构筑了核心竞争护城河：与大多数依赖第三方清算所的券商相比，羊驼拥有一体化的执行、清算和托管能力。在代币化证券和现实世界资产（RWA）领域，该模型
将监管合规性与基础设施能力相结合的能力非常罕见。ITN 网络和生态系统合作伙伴关系强化了其领先优势：Alpaca 推出的即时代币化网络（ITN）试图将传统证券库存与链上发行流程联系起来，同时与 Ondo、Backed 和 Dinari 等 RWA 项目建立合作伙伴关系。根据该公司披露的数据，其在代币化美股和ETF相关托管资产中占据约94%的市场份额。 RWA增长背后仍存在监管和中心化风险：代币化股票市场仍处于早期发展阶段，大多数产品提供的是证券的经济利益而不是直接股权。随着行业规模的扩大，问题
Binance Enters the US Stock Market: Deconstructing Alpaca, the Tokenized Securities Infrastructure Behind bStocks
TL;DR:
Binance enters the US stock market, with Alpaca becoming a key infrastructure provider: Binance is opening US stock and ETF trading services to non-US users and plans to launch bStocks, an on-chain securities product. Within this ecosystem, Alpaca handles core securities infrastructure components such as execution, clearing, and custody, playing a vital role in connecting the crypto market with the US securities market.
From API brokerage to RWA infrastructure: Alpaca transitioned from an algorithmic trading software company to a US self-clearing brokerage. By offering standardized and modular securities trading capabilities through its Brokerage API, it is regarded as the “Stripe of securities trading.” Currently, its services cover hundreds of global partners and millions of end accounts.
Self-clearing capabilities build a core competitive moat: Compared to most brokerages that rely on third-party clearing houses, Alpaca possesses integrated execution, clearing, and custody capabilities. In the fields of tokenized securities and real-world assets (RWAs), this model — which combines regulatory compliance with infrastructure capabilities — is highly rare.
ITN network and ecosystem partnerships reinforce its leading edge: The Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) launched by Alpaca attempts to bridge traditional securities inventory with on-chain issuance processes, while establishing partnerships with RWA projects such as Ondo, Backed, and Dinari. According to data disclosed by the company, it commands approximately a 94% market share in assets under custody related to tokenized US stocks & ETFs.
Regulatory and centralization risks remain behind RWA growth: The tokenized stock market is still in its early stages of development, with most products offering economic interests in the securities rather than direct equity ownership. As the industry scales, issues such as regulatory changes, liquidity constraints, and high infrastructure centralization remain significant challenges for future development.
Alpaca: The Key Infrastructure Provider Behind Binance’s bStocks
On June 1, 2026, Binance officially opened trading services for over 7,000 US stocks and ETFs to non-US users. This move allows global crypto users to participate in traditional capital markets with a lower barrier to entry. With a minimum of just $5, users can use crypto assets such as USDT, USDC, and even BNB to purchase fractional shares of companies listed on NASDAQ or the NYSE. The service operates on a 24/5 trading model, routing orders through Nest Trading Limited (an ADGM-licensed brokerage entity participating in Binance’s US stock business architecture), while Alpaca Securities LLC handles order execution, clearing, custody, dividend distribution, and corporate action processing.
It is worth noting that the service currently launched by Binance is a traditional US stock trading service provided through a licensed brokerage system; whereas the upcoming bStocks is an on-chain securities product based on the BNB Chain, with distinct differences between the two in legal structure and technical implementation.
bStocks will be issued by BTECH Holdings Ltd, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) registered in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), achieving on-chain representation of stocks on the BNB Chain. Its economic value maintains a mapped relationship with the corresponding stock and is supported by a licensed architecture. This strategic layout marks Binance’s evolution from a pure crypto asset platform towards a multi-asset and RWA (Real World Assets) direction, providing crypto users with more pathways to connect with traditional finance.
Alpaca’s Background and Development Path
Alpaca’s story began in 2015, co-founded by Japanese founders Yoshi Yokokawa (current CEO) and Hitoshi Harada (CPO/CTO). Initially named AlpacaDB, the company primarily focused on developing algorithmic trading infrastructure and database tools. Around 2017, it began transitioning to the brokerage infrastructure business, gradually building self-clearing brokerage capabilities over the following years to become a FINRA-registered and SIPC-member institution headquartered in San Mateo, California.
The self-clearing model means Alpaca does not need to rely on other brokerages for clearing services; instead, it can independently undertake core functions such as maintaining customer books, clearing, and custody. This is a relatively rare capability in the industry and has become a key foundation for building trust in the RWA space subsequently. Its core product, the Brokerage API, encapsulates complex compliance, risk control, and settlement logic from traditional securities trading into concise REST and WebSocket interfaces, earning it the industry moniker of the “Stripe of securities trading.” This developer-first design significantly lowers the technical barrier for fintech startups, crypto platforms, and institutional investors to access the US securities market.
According to company disclosures, its infrastructure has served hundreds of partners globally and supports the trading activities of millions of end-brokerage accounts.
On January 14, 2026, Alpaca completed a $150 million Series D financing round led by Drive Capital (securing an additional $40 million credit line), bringing the company’s valuation to $1.15 billion. The investor lineup includes Citadel Securities, Kraken, BNP Paribas’ venture arm (Opera Tech Ventures), MUFG, DRW, and other giants in the traditional and crypto finance sectors. This funding round not only provides ample capital support but also reflects the capital market’s long-term optimism about Alpaca in the convergence infrastructure space between traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto finance (Crypto).
Why Does Alpaca Hold a Leading Position in Tokenized US Stocks & ETFs?
As of December 2025, according to Alpaca’s own disclosed data, it commands an approximate 94% market share in assets under custody related to tokenized US stocks & ETFs (with an even higher proportion of 97% in large-cap and mega-cap stocks), and the scale of its tokenized assets under custody exceeds $480 million. Due to the lack of a unified statistical standard in the tokenized equities market, the methodologies adopted by different institutions may vary.
The establishment of this leading position stems from the competitive advantages Alpaca has built across multiple dimensions.
The Scarcity of Self-Clearing Capabilities + Regulatory Compliance
Tokenized assets involve multiple requirements, including SEC regulation, custodial security, Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and investor protection. In the current regulatory environment, many traditional brokerages opt to observe from the sidelines or entirely avoid partnering with RWA projects due to high compliance costs and substantial risk exposure. Alpaca, leveraging its self-clearing broker-dealer qualifications, can independently undertake core functions such as securities execution, clearing, and custody. It provides regulated securities custody and clearing capabilities for RWA projects, offering comprehensive backend infrastructure support for their asset mapping mechanisms.
This full-stack self-clearing capability significantly lowers the operational barriers and potential compliance risks for token issuers, enabling them to focus more on product design and marketing without having to build or integrate complex TradFi backend systems themselves. Amidst an evolving regulatory framework for the tokenized securities market and industry practices that are not yet fully matured, this rare capability has become a crucial foundation for Alpaca to build trust barriers and attract mainstream RWA issuers.
Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) — A Critical Technical Infrastructure
On October 2, 2025, Alpaca launched the Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) at the TOKEN2049 Singapore conference. This network allows authorized participants to perform 24/7 in-kind minting and redemption via a single API, achieving near real-time processing of token minting and redemption at the user experience level, which significantly improves trading efficiency and reduces liquidity fragmentation issues. For issuers, the significance of ITN lies not only in enhancing minting and redemption efficiency but also in bridging compliant securities inventory with on-chain issuance processes through a unified interface, thereby reducing the operational complexity of tokenized securities.
This design effectively bridges the compliance requirements of traditional finance with the programmable nature of blockchain, providing institutions with more flexible inventory management and rebalancing tools. However, it is worth noting that the actual settlement of the underlying stocks must still adhere to the rules and timeline requirements of the traditional securities system (such as the DTCC). ITN primarily achieves efficiency leaps at the token level.
Partner Network and First-Mover Advantage
Through early strategic positioning, Alpaca has accumulated an extensive partner network, including mainstream RWA issuers such as Ondo Finance, Backed Finance (Kraken xStocks), Dinari, and Anchored. Its tokenized assets under custody encompass high-liquidity targets like TSLA, SPY, QQQ, NVDA, and IVV, establishing a strong advantage in asset coverage and liquidity aggregation.
This network effect presents a positive feedback loop: more high-quality projects choose Alpaca → liquidity and available assets are further enriched → attracting more issuers and institutions to participate. As the RWA ecosystem expands, Alpaca’s first-mover advantage is reflected not only in the number of partnerships but also in its gradually forming ecological network and industry influence, further solidifying its standing within the tokenized equities infrastructure ecosystem.
Developer Friendliness and Infrastructure Reliability
Alpaca officially states that its system availability reaches 99.99%. Its Brokerage API supports global multi-asset and multi-market access, and is regarded by many fintech companies and crypto platforms as one of the most convenient solutions for accessing the US securities market. Binance’s current US stock trading service is supported by Alpaca for backend securities infrastructure such as execution, clearing, and custody; as for whether and to what extent the future bStocks product will adopt Alpaca’s related capabilities, public information remains quite limited at present.
This highly available infrastructure and developer friendliness drastically shorten the integration cycles for crypto platforms and fintech companies, lowering technical barriers and maintenance costs. In the crypto industry, which pursues rapid iteration, Alpaca’s reliable infrastructure has become a key factor making large platforms willing to engage in deep collaboration.
Seizing Market Timing
Alpaca’s first-mover advantage is particularly evident in its grasp of market timing. Before the rise of the tokenized securities market, the company had already built its self-clearing brokerage capabilities through years of accumulation and continued to invest in infrastructure construction such as the Brokerage API. With the rapid development of the RWA and tokenized stock markets in 2025, these capabilities, initially built for the securities brokerage business, began to demonstrate broader application value.
When an increasing number of institutions and crypto platforms sought compliant securities custody, clearing, and issuance infrastructure, Alpaca already possessed a relatively mature technical and regulatory foundation. Therefore, it was able to quickly accommodate these needs and expand its partner network. Compared to later entrants in the market, its long-term investment in licenses, technology, and ecosystem accumulation has secured it a relatively advantageous position in the early development stages of the industry.
Current Architecture and Future Outlook
In Binance’s business workflow, after users place an order via the Binance App, the order is routed through Nest Trading to Alpaca Securities for backend processing such as execution, clearing, and custody, ultimately connecting with the US securities clearing system (like DTCC). ITN provides a higher-level API abstraction in scenarios requiring tokenization.
From an industry perspective, the tokenized equities market is still in its early stages, and its size remains small compared to the traditional securities market. Most tokenized stock products only offer economic exposure to the underlying securities rather than direct equity ownership, with voting rights, dividend rights, and complete legal rights depending on the specific issuance structure. The field also faces regulatory policy uncertainties, geographical restrictions across different jurisdictions, liquidity challenges, and potential risks arising from infrastructure centralization.
Despite these limitations, Alpaca’s value as an infrastructure connector between traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto finance (Crypto) is increasingly gaining market recognition. As more crypto platforms, RWA projects, and fintech companies plug into the securities infrastructure services provided by Alpaca, its global ecological network continues to expand. Whether Alpaca can maintain its current competitive edge in an intensifying market environment will depend on its continued investments in technological innovation, compliance adaptation, and ecosystem expansion. Meanwhile, as more traditional financial institutions, brokerages, and emerging RWA infrastructure providers enter the market, the industry’s competitive landscape may also undergo continuous changes.
Risk Warning: The tokenized securities, RWAs, and digital asset products mentioned in this article remain in a stage of rapid development, and regulatory requirements in different jurisdictions may change. Some market share and asset scale data in this text are sourced from public corporate disclosures; results under different statistical methodologies may vary.
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