WuBlockchain
Binance has disclosed a minority stake in Alpaca Finance, the firm that controls roughly 94% of the custody market for tokenized US stocks and ETFs. The partnership goes well beyond a passive investment: under the terms of the agreement, Binance receives 50% of Alpaca's Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) fees and 65% of the remaining profit from user stock lending after interest is paid out to users.
Why it matters
Alpaca's near-total dominance of tokenized US equity custody means Binance has effectively plugged itself into the infrastructure backbone of the entire tokenized-stock sector. PFOF and stock lending are the two primary revenue engines of retail brokerage — capturing 50% and 65% of those streams respectively gives Binance a structurally significant share of every tokenized US equity trade that flows through its platform. For the broader market, the disclosure signals that Binance is building a regulated, revenue-generating bridge between crypto-native users and traditional equity markets, not just offering the feature as a loss-leader.
Market impact
The deal raises the competitive stakes for any exchange looking to offer tokenized equities — Alpaca's 94% custody share means rivals face a near-monopoly supplier if they want comparable infrastructure. Investors tracking the tokenized RWA (real-world asset) narrative should watch whether Binance's disclosed stake and revenue-sharing terms prompt regulatory scrutiny, particularly around PFOF disclosure rules that vary sharply between the US and offshore jurisdictions.
Source: [JavaScript is disabled](https://www.binance.com/en/about-legal/terms-securities-trading)
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