Author: RootData Research

Abstract

From August to October 2026, the trading volume of stock derivatives on mainstream platforms initially decreased and then increased, while open interest and market depth continued to expand. The average daily trading volume fell from 23.36 billion USD in August to 17.04 billion USD in September, and recovered to 19.81 billion USD in October, but has not yet returned to the August level.

Binance dominates trading and open interest, but has not established an absolute advantage across multiple dimensions such as trading quality. The strengths of other mainstream trading platforms also vary: OKX ranks second in both trading volume and price spread, while Bitget has the largest ±2% depth. Market competition is differentiated based on scale, product coverage, and liquidity.

Tokenized stock spot has significant product differences in trading channels, dividend processing, and information disclosure. The positioning of five issuers varies: Ondo, bStocks, and xStocks lead in asset size, while Reality has the broadest product coverage and most diverse execution methods. Industry competition is shifting from expanding coverage to the continuous conversion of holdings and transactions.

Research Scope and Statistical Method: The exchange sample includes Binance, OKX, Bitget, Bybit, Gate, MEXC, KuCoin, and HTX. The study focuses on stock and ETF perpetual contracts priced or settled in stablecoins such as USDT and USDC. The tokenized issuers sample includes Ondo, xStocks, bStocks, Reality, and Robinhood Stock Tokens.

I. Market Overview and Demand Structure

In the third quarter of 2026, the global stock market adjusted repeatedly between profit growth and macro tightening. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00% in September and kept rates unchanged in October, but there are still expectations for further rate hikes in December, making the interest rate trajectory a core variable for the fourth quarter. On the industry level, AI storage demand and product price increases supported the performance of storage stocks such as SNDK and MU; after October, concerns about returns on AI capital expenditures increased, leading to greater volatility in tech stocks.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the U.S. mid-term elections, Anthropic IPO, and Open AI's delayed listing expectations until 2027 may continue to influence tech stock valuations and trading hotspots.

In this context, it is necessary to clarify the trading scale, competitive landscape, and liquidity of stock derivatives and tokenized stock spots on crypto trading platforms, and assess the capacity of each platform to accommodate new targets and event-driven trading demand.

1. Stock Derivatives Market

1.1 Trading Volume Scale and Peak

From August to October 2026, the trading volume of stock derivatives on eight mainstream platforms amounted to approximately 1.79 trillion USD, with an average daily trading volume of 20.11 billion USD. Trading is mainly concentrated on leading platforms, with Binance, OKX, and Bitget accounting for a total trading share of 83.99%.

In terms of monthly trends, market trading volume shrank in September and recovered in October, with average daily trading volume in October increasing by 16.24% month-on-month, but still below August levels. From the concentration trend perspective, the combined trading share of the top three platforms for trading volume increased from 81.59% to 87.22%, further concentrating trading activities among the leading platforms.

1.2 Open Interest Scale, ±2% Depth and Peak

From August to October, the daily average open interest (OI) scale on eight mainstream platforms was approximately 7.84 billion USD, with an average daily ±2% market depth of 1.74 billion USD. Compared to the trading volume's initial decline and subsequent increase, open interest and market depth exhibited continuous growth, demonstrating more sustained expansion.

In October, the average daily OI reached 9.21 billion USD, an increase of 38.66% from August; the average daily ±2% depth reached 2.09 billion USD, growing by 45.99%. During the decline in trading in September, open interest and market orders continued to increase, indicating that funds were not leaving the market on a large scale. Traders shifted more from short-term turnover to holding positions, and both market making and order supply maintained expansion; the liquidity foundation on the platform was unaffected by the contraction in trading, potentially supporting the recovery in trading in October.

1.3 Popular Stocks and ETF Contracts

From September to October, trading in individual stocks mainly focused on semiconductors, storage, and leveraged ETFs. SOXL and SNDK had average daily trading volumes of approximately 2.618 billion and 2.442 billion USD respectively across the eight sample platforms, ranking them among the hottest stock assets.

2. Tokenized Stock Spot Market

From August to October, the daily average trading volume of five mainstream tokenized stock issuers was approximately 324 million USD, while the average daily trading volume of stock derivatives on the same platform was approximately 19.947 billion USD, about 61.5 times that of the spot market. Stock derivatives remain the primary trading market.

Moreover, the concentration of contract trading is even higher. The combined trading share of the top three platforms for contract trading—Binance, OKX, and Bitget—accounts for 83.99%; the combined trading share of the top three for spot trading—Binance, OKX, and Gate—accounts for 78.25%, with trading distribution being relatively dispersed.

However, in October, the average daily trading volume of the spot market reached 364 million USD, with a month-on-month growth of 22.72%, which is faster than the recovery rate of the contract market, narrowing the gap in trading volume between contracts and spot.

II. Competitive Landscape of Exchanges

1. Stock Derivatives

From August to October, the leading positions of mainstream platforms varied across different dimensions. Binance ranks first in daily average trading volume and OI; Bitget ranks first in average ±2% depth; OKX maintains second place in trading volume and weighted price spread. MEXC ranks second in OI size, with the highest number of stock derivatives.

Trading volume, open interest, product coverage, and trading quality have distinct competitive landscapes. The following sections analyze the scale, growth, and liquidity performance of each platform with respect to overall rankings and monthly changes.

1.1 Trading Volume

Trading Volume and Market Share

The trading volume exhibits significant concentration among leading platforms. From August to October, Binance's average daily trading volume was 13.128 billion USD, taking a share of 65.27%; OKX and Bitget ranked second and third with 2.377 billion and 1.388 billion USD respectively. MEXC, Gate, and Bybit ranked fourth to sixth, while KuCoin and HTX's combined share was less than 1%.

The recovery pace of each platform in October varied. Bitget had the highest month-on-month growth rate in trading volume, reaching 54.85%, while MEXC and Bybit also showed recoveries. Binance maintained the largest trading scale while increasing its share further.

Open Interest Scale and Share

The open interest data for stock derivatives is dominated by Binance. From August to October, Binance's average OI was 4.157 billion USD, accounting for over half. Bitget, Gate, and MEXC's OI shares were relatively close, all around 11%-12%; OKX was at 7.61%, placing it in the mid-range; Bybit, KuCoin, and HTX's OI shares were comparatively low, ranging from 0.1% to 3%.

1.2 Trading Quality

Market Depth

From August to October, Bitget's average ±2% depth reached 418 million USD, higher than Binance's 407 million USD, ranking first among the eight platforms, even with lower trading volume and OI than Binance. Additionally, Bitget's depth share was 23.90%, indicating that it has a stronger competitiveness in market liquidity supply within the ±2% range.

Weighted Price Spread

Binance and OKX lead in price spread. From August to October, both had an average daily weighted price spread of 0.0115%, while Bitget was third with 0.018%, and Bybit was ranked fourth.

In October, the price spreads for Bitget and Bybit narrowed by 16.59% and 18.58% respectively, improving platform trading costs. Although the spreads for Binance and OKX widened compared to September, they still maintained the smallest spreads. HTX saw the largest narrowing, but its absolute spread remained significantly higher than other platforms.

2. Tokenized Stock Spot

In tokenized stock products, AUM (Assets Under Management) reflects the scale of issued assets, while the product count reflects the coverage range. This section compares the coverage, asset scale, trading mechanisms, and company actions of five product lines based on the information of Ondo, bStocks, xStocks, Reality, and Robinhood Stocks.

The five products have different focuses on asset scale and coverage. As per the data listed, Ondo, bStocks, and xStocks have AUMs of 1.3 billion, 1.2 billion, and 1 billion USD respectively, leading in capital scale; Reality and Robinhood have AUMs of 161 million and 157 million USD, following closely behind. Reality is characterized by its broader coverage, with asset coverage exceeding 3,200 items, significantly higher than the other four; Robinhood primarily relies on its own user base for distribution.

Trading channels are also a significant distinction. Reality provides three execution methods: DMA (Direct Market Access, orders go directly to traditional financial trading venues), RFQ (Request for Quote, traders get quotes from market makers), and on-chain liquidity pools, covering traditional finance trading venues, Bitget CEX, and on-chain; Ondo and xStocks use multiple CEX and on-chain channels for distribution, while bStocks and Robinhood rely on Binance, Robinhood platforms, and on-chain channels respectively. The liquidity sources of the five range from a combination of "traditional trading venues + CEX + on-chain" to single platforms, affecting the scope of funds accessible.

Regarding dividend processing, the five offer "cash dividends" and "automatic reinvestment" as two holding experiences: Reality pays dividends directly to holders in stablecoins, allowing investors to freely manage cash flow; the other four automatically reinvest after-tax dividends, eliminating manual operations but not allowing direct cash distribution, making the former more friendly to investors needing cash distribution.

In terms of information disclosure, Reality provides independent third-party CPA-issued reserve verification, ensuring reserve transparency is externally verified; Ondo, xStocks, and bStocks primarily rely on self-disclosure, while Robinhood does not specify any reserve verification arrangements.

Regarding trading times, all assets from xStocks, bStocks, and Robinhood support round-the-clock trading; the main assets of Reality and Ondo support 7×24 hours of trading, while other assets are available for 5 days a week, 24 hours a day, with trading periods needing to be differentiated based on specific assets.

In summary, none of the five products leads on all dimensions, reflecting the differing product pathways: Ondo, bStocks, and xStocks focus on asset scale, deepening liquidity through multiple CEX or channels like Binance; Reality chose another path, differentiating from peers in coverage breadth and mechanism design, covering over 3,200 assets, with concurrent DMA and RFQ, paying dividends in stablecoin cash, and showing independent third-party CPA certification. For Reality, it has initially accumulated market share through the Bitget exchange channel while providing a trading experience more akin to actual U.S. stocks, creating its own identification; however, whether the breadth of the product can translate into sustained trading and open interest requires further data validation.

III. Q4 Outlook and Competitive Evolution

The U.S. mid-term elections are an important observation point for subsequent policy expectations. What is more noteworthy is how tax, trade, and technology regulatory arrangements post-election will advance, and whether companies will adjust their investment and profit forecasts accordingly. For crypto stock platforms, the ability to sustain quotes and maintain reasonable spreads during events will be more distinguishing than liquidity rankings during calm periods.

The stock derivatives market has developed different competitive advantages. Binance dominates trading volume and open interest, while OKX ranks second in both trading volume and price spread. Bitget ranks first in market depth and frequently appears in the top three in the comparison metrics, showing relatively balanced performance.

Platforms that expand their products quickly also face different trading quality tests. MEXC has the highest number of contracts and ranks second in OI, but ranks sixth in price spread; Gate ranks second and third in contract numbers and OI respectively, but trading volume declined in October. Bybit saw the highest growth in contract numbers during the period, but its trading volume, OI, and depth all ranked sixth. Meanwhile, KuCoin and HTX currently have relatively small trading shares and larger spreads, so their changes in product coverage and trading activity should be monitored moving forward.

In the next phase, the competition focus may shift from the number of new arrivals to the continuous trading of new targets and quoting capabilities during market volatility. MEXC, Gate, and Bybit need to observe whether product expansion can drive growth in trading volume and open interest; Bitget needs to see if its depth advantage can be converted into a higher trading share; while Binance and OKX need to focus on maintaining scale and quoting advantages during hot stocks and off-U.S. stock trading periods. Future tracking should emphasize new target trading volume, OI retention, and changes in depth and spreads during events.

Data Explanation and Reference Materials

The data covers the period from August 1, 2026, to October 31, 2026, sourced from RootData contracts, spot rankings, and historical snapshots. The monthly average and overall average are calculated as the sum of effective day values of each platform divided by the number of effective days, with no zero padding for missing dates; cross-platform averages for market and individual stocks are the sum of platform averages. The trading volume is taken from daily 24-hour rolling values, with October being the monthly average up to the 31st, rounding may result in trailing discrepancies.

[ S1 ] Ondo Stocks Product Operation and Reserve Verification Explanation
[ S2 ] xStocks Official FAQ and Company Actions Explanation
[ S3 ] Binance bStocks Official FAQ
[ S4 ] Bitget rToken FAQ and Trading Hours and Company Actions Explanation
[ S5 ] Bitget Reality Products and Development Documents
[ S6 ] Robinhood Chain Stock Tokens Documentation and Classic Product Explanation
[ S6 a ] Robinhood Classic Stock Tokens Product Explanation
[ S7 ] FEC 2026 U.S. Federal Election Dates

This report is for research reference only and does not constitute investment advice.

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