Ondo launches the first platform to trade U.S. stock perps with tokenized shares as collateral

For the first time, investors outside the United States can use tokenized stocks as collateral to trade perpetual futures on U.S. equities, without a traditional brokerage account.

Ondo Perps, a new decentralized perpetual futures platform built on technology developed by Ondo Finance, launched on July 7. 

It is the first platform of its kind to allow tokenized stock and ETF holdings to be posted directly as collateral for derivatives positions, eliminating the need to park separate capital across multiple platforms.

Related: Ondo Finance hires ETF veteran John Hoffman to build tokenized portfolios

What Ondo Perps actually is

A perpetual futures contract, or perp, is a derivative that lets a trader bet on whether an asset's price will rise or fall, with no expiration date. The position can be held indefinitely, and leverage can be used to amplify exposure, and losses.

Ondo Perps offers up to 20x leverage on widely traded assets, including SpaceX (SPCX), Micron (MU), Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), the Nasdaq QQQ ETF, gold and silver.

The difference is the collateral model. On most perps platforms, traders post stablecoins or crypto as margin. On Ondo Perps, they can post tokenized stock holdings directly, so the same Apple shares already held on-chain can back a leveraged position without being sold or moved off the platform.

Who it is built for

Ondo Perps is available to investors outside the United States, and that is by design. Hundreds of millions of investors globally want exposure to U.S. stocks, ETFs, and commodities but lack access to traditional U.S. brokerage infrastructure. Ondo Perps is built specifically for that audience, giving them 24/7 access to leveraged U.S. market exposure through a permissionless platform.

"Hundreds of millions of investors outside the United States can now access 24/7 exposure to stocks, ETFs, and commodities with up to 20x leverage, and deploy tokenized stock holdings as productive capital," said Ian De Bode, President at Ondo Finance. 

"We are rapidly approaching an investing experience that is, quite frankly, far better than what a traditional brokerage account can offer."

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The infrastructure behind it

Ondo Perps sources its liquidity directly from traditional financial markets, the same approach Ondo Finance used when it brought exchange liquidity to its tokenized stocks and ETFs. 

Ondo says that gives it market depth comparable to traditional derivatives venues, with tight spreads and minimal slippage even on large trades, and it claims the fastest execution of any permissionless perps platform, with order routing, margin updates and liquidations processed in real time.

Ondo Perps is built on top of Ondo Global Markets, the tokenized-equity infrastructure platform that has grown roughly 5% per week since launching in September 2025, reaching over $1 billion in total value locked. 

The launch adds a new layer to that ecosystem: tokenized assets are no longer just holdings but collateral that can be put to work inside a single trading platform.

"Ondo Perps marks the first time a permissionless equity perps platform has been built with the infrastructure required to unlock liquidity, speed, and capital efficiency comparable to traditional derivatives markets," De Bode said.

Perpetual futures are high-risk instruments, and leverage magnifies losses as well as gains. Ondo Perps is a permissionless platform and is not available to U.S. investors.

Related: Ondo Finance brings U.S. stocks onchain for the first time following SEC guidance