Ondo Finance says tokenized stocks can now be used as collateral for perp trading

Ondo Finance said its perpetual futures trading platform is the first to allow traders to use tokenized stocks as collateral, according to a post from Tuesday.

The service is available to pre-alpha users of Ondo Perps. "RWA perps can now trade on a platform built to deliver liquidity and capital efficiency on par with traditional derivatives exchanges," the firm added.

Ondo also said the 24/7 permissionless trading will be available to traders outside the U.S., Panama, and other prohibited jurisdictions. The move could also increase the utility of tokenized stocks as they evolve beyond simply being onchain assets into versatile forms of collateral.

"We are rapidly approaching an investing experience that is, quite frankly, far better than what a traditional brokerage account can offer," Ondo Finance President Ian De Bode said in a statement.

Ondo also said it is offering rewards for early trading, including $150,000 worth of USDC for first-week activity.

Ondo expanding

Last year, the tokenized real-world asset issuer launched 24/7 onchain access to more than 100 U.S. stocks and ETFs. The platform was made available to eligible Asia-Pacific, European, African, and Latin American investors. Ondo Perps lets users trade perpetual futures on U.S. stocks, ETFs, and commodities 24/7 with up to 20x leverage.

"Traders can deploy capital in size, run sophisticated strategies, and seamlessly manage risk all on a single platform that eliminates the constraints of traditional derivatives venues," Ondo said at the time.

Ondo's move could help its perpetual futures platform stand out among rivals like Ostium and Hyperliquid.

Tuesday's announcement comes days after Ondo expanded its U.S. footprint with the launch of tokenized versions of BlackRock's iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and Micron (MU) shares under the third-party custodial framework outlined by the SEC in January.