Buying US stocks on a crypto exchange (checked November 2026)
This section is about one thing: how to buy US stocks through Binance, OKX or Bybit when your local brokers don’t sell them, or when the dollars can’t leave the country. This page is the overview. The actual steps are in how to buy , and each country’s law and deposit routes are on its country page.
1. Why an exchange can sell you US stocks
2026 is the dividing line. Binance launched real stocks in June, Bybit followed in October, and all three now have tokenized stocks and stock perpetuals. Before that, the only “US stocks” on an exchange were futures contracts.
The structure works like this. You place the order on the exchange, the exchange hands it to a licensed broker behind it, and for both Binance and Bybit the real stocks end up executed and held by the US broker Alpaca. You don’t open a separate account with a US broker, and you don’t wire dollars out of the country. USDC is enough to place the order. For countries where brokers like Interactive Brokers won’t take you, or where the bank won’t release dollars, this route skips the hardest step.
The cost should be clear up front too. The stock sits in a customer account at the exchange’s partner broker, not in a brokerage account in your own name, and the only way out is to sell and take back USDC. The exchange failing and the broker failing are two different things, but your path to recourse has one more layer in it than a direct brokerage account.
2. What you are actually buying
Three different things get labelled “US stocks” on an exchange. Sort them out before you buy.
| Binance | OKX | Bybit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real sharesYou own the stock | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tokenized stocksA token that tracks the price | bStocks | xStocks | xStocks |
| Stock perpetualsLeverage, no ownership | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spot trading fee | 0.1% | 0.08% / 0.1% | 0.1% |
Real stocks are actual shares. They pay dividends and trade in US market hours, with some stocks open 24 hours on weekdays. A tokenized stock is a token that follows the share price. The issuer says real shares are held 1:1 behind it, but you aren’t a shareholder, you have no vote, and dividends mostly show up as price adjustments. The upside is you can trade around the clock. A perpetual holds nothing at all. It is a leveraged bet on the price, and you can lose your entire deposit.
The how-to page on this site uses real stocks as the example. That’s not a recommendation for which one to buy. For fees, available regions and risks side by side, see the exchange comparison .
3. By country
Law, tax and deposit routes differ in every country, so each one gets its own page.
- Vietnam : since September 2026 a new decree covers unlicensed platforms, and none of the three holds a Vietnamese licence, but no individual has been fined. Dong goes through P2P.
- Nigeria : there are legal US stock apps locally, and the dollar is what gets in the way. The SEC regulates platforms, not users. Naira goes through P2P.
- Pakistan : buying US stocks was always legal, and banks won’t release dollars. PVARA is licensing now, and Binance has an NOC that is not a licence. Rupees go through P2P.
If your country doesn’t have a page yet, start with the official restricted lists in section 6 of the exchange comparison , then follow how to buy , and check after signing up whether the stocks entry shows in the app.
4. Four steps
The steps are the same on all three: sign up, verify identity, deposit and convert to USDC, buy. Bybit is the example below, with each step linked to its guide.