On October 12, Bybit switched on trading in more than 1,000 US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds for eligible users — with Apple (AAPL), NVIDIA (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Micron Technology (MU), and the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) among the first names on the board. Trades settle in USDC directly inside existing Bybit accounts, qualifying securities can be bought in slices below one full share, and weekday trading runs nearly around the clock, from US pre-open through after-hours.
The plumbing matters most. Orders route to Infra Capital Limited, an introducing broker regulated by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission under license GB23202169, and execute through Alpaca, a US self-clearing broker-dealer. Alpaca Securities LLC — a FINRA member — holds the shares in custody, so users get an economic interest in real securities, not synthetic exposure. Access is limited to permitted jurisdictions and requires completed KYC.
The launch landed one day before Bybit's October 13 "Make Your Move" keynote, where co-founder and chief executive Ben Zhou laid out the multi-asset roadmap. Bybit first stepped into traditional finance in 2022 with contracts for difference and says it has since become the largest crypto CFD venue, with volume topping out near $100 billion at its peak.
| Milestone | Timing | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| CFD entry | 2022 | Bybit says largest crypto CFD platform; volume peaked near $100B |
| IPO Express | Jun 2026 | Tokenized IPO access at offering price; SpaceX first |
| Stock trading | Oct 12, 2026 | 1,000+ US stocks/ETFs, USDC settlement, Alpaca execution/custody |
| mStocks (target) | Nov 2026 | Tokenized stocks with Mantle, one-for-one share backing |
Why it matters
The five largest exchanges — Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, OKX — are no longer competing over who lists the most tokens. The fight is over who becomes the default financial app, and genuine equity access inside a crypto account is one of the clearest moats anyone can dig. Bybit's reported figures show how far it has moved: more than $180 billion in TradFi perpetuals volume to date, and a product range topping 600 instruments spanning shares, ETFs, indexes, commodities, and currencies. That was the whole subject of the October 13 keynote — which we previewed ahead of the event — and the stock launch proved it. See the crypto section for how the other majors are answering in the same land grab.
What to watch
- November — mStocks with Mantle: tokenized stocks targeting launch next month, with one-for-one backing in actual shares, moving between qualifying shares and mStocks inside Bybit at any hour, plus trading on Mantle's AMM pools. Converted mStocks are expected to move into Bybit's UTA as margin collateral.
- Adoption: whether real-share equity access pulls USDC deposits and active traders onto the platform, and how the extended weekday schedule performs versus regular brokerage hours.
- Regulatory footprint: Bybit says it secured five new licenses and approvals during 2026 — in the European Union, South Africa, Indonesia, the Cayman Islands, and El Salvador. Stock trading stays jurisdiction-limited, so eligibility expansion is the metric to track.
MarketRadar take
A genuine product launch beats a keynote promise, and this one is genuine: real shares, real custody, real settlement rails. A Mauritius-regulated introducing broker with a US clearing broker-dealer behind it shows Bybit is building this the durable way rather than as another synthetic overlay. The effect is competitive rather than price-driven: it raises the bar for Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and OKX in the "one financial app" race, especially for users in permitted jurisdictions who can trade NVIDIA after the US close using stablecoin balances. The November mStocks launch is the second act — if tokenized 24/7 stock conversion works at scale, it closes the loop between the crypto account and the brokerage account entirely. Directionally, this is bullish for Bybit's multi-asset positioning; it does not, by itself, move any single crypto asset's price.
