For many years, the crypto market has been familiar mainly with perpetual contracts tied to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other pure crypto altcoins. However, as the market matures, the demand to access assets outside of crypto through on-chain infrastructure or CEX-native products has become increasingly clear. From that shift, Equity Perps have emerged as a new trend and narrative, allowing traders to trade stocks 24/7 in a way that feels native to the crypto market.
1. What Are Equity Perps?
Equity Perpetuals are derivative contracts that track the price of publicly traded stocks on US exchanges such as NASDAQ, including names like AAPL (Apple), TSLA (Tesla), or NVDA (Nvidia). They allow traders to speculate on stock price movements without owning the underlying shares.
Unlike traditional futures, equity perps have no expiry date. Positions can be held indefinitely, with profit and loss calculated based on a reference price, while the funding rate mechanism keeps the perp price aligned with the spot price of the stock in the US equity market.
Because they are built on blockchain infrastructure, equity perps can be traded 24/7, without being constrained by NASDAQ or NYSE trading hours. They also support leverage and margin denominated in stablecoins. A common misconception is to equate equity perps with tokenized stocks, even though these are fundamentally different models in nature. Tokenized stocks represent real shares and require the underlying assets to be held in custody and fully collateralized on a 1:1 basis. As a result, they are tightly tied to ownership rights and securities regulatory frameworks, which significantly constrains compliance risk management and scalability.
In contrast, equity perps do not represent ownership of the underlying shares and do not require custody of the underlying assets. They are purely derivative contracts that track stock prices via oracles, similar to crypto perpetual futures. This structure makes them easier to deploy, more flexible in product design, and subject to fewer regulatory barriers.
In DeFi, Hyperliquid, through its HIP-3 standard, is currently leading this trend. Shortly after launching equity perps in October 2025, the platform recorded nearly 100 million USD in daily trading volume, highlighting strong demand for decentralized stock-based derivatives.
On the centralized side, exchanges such as MEXC have also recently launched Stock Futures products, allowing users to trade derivatives that mirror US equities like NVDA, AAPL, and TSLA while using crypto as collateral. This reflects how stock-based derivatives are expanding across both DeFi and centralized exchanges. It can be said that this represents one of MEXC’s early moves in extending crypto derivatives into traditional asset classes.
2. Why Did Equity Perps Emerge?
Equity perps matter because they unlock a more flexible and global way to trade stocks compared to traditional markets. Instead of being limited by NASDAQ or NYSE trading hours, investors can trade equities 24/7 and react immediately to news and market events. This is especially important in a world where information flows continuously, while traditional finance remains inactive for most hours of the day.
Another key factor is that equity perps break down access barriers inherent in TradFi. Traders from virtually any country can long or short US stocks using only a crypto wallet, without brokers, without complex KYC requirements, and without strict leverage limitations. As a result, equity perps become a gateway for millions of users to access the world’s largest capital market in a simpler and more open way.
Equity perps also offer superior capital efficiency compared to traditional stock trading. Instead of deploying 100 percent of capital to buy NVDA or TSLA, traders only need a fraction as margin to gain equivalent exposure. The ability to go long or short flexibly also enables active portfolio hedging without selling underlying shares, which is particularly useful during volatile market conditions.
From a market structure perspective, equity perps also play a growing role in price discovery. Because perp markets operate continuously and attract global liquidity, perp prices may increasingly serve as more relevant references than traditional stock exchanges that trade only 6.5 hours per day. Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes has suggested that in the future, prices of major indices such as the Nasdaq 100 or S&P 500 could be determined first on perpetual markets.
Finally, the rise of equity perps accelerates the convergence between TradFi and on-chain markets. Once stocks are traded as perpetual contracts, new financial products ranging from basket perps to cross-asset hedging strategies can be created easily using smart contracts. This opens the door to an “Internet Capital Market,” where traditional assets and crypto assets coexist within a single, transparent, continuously operating marketplace.
As of late December 2025, equity perps accounted for roughly 7 to 10 percent of total perp DEX volume, up sharply from below 1 percent at the start of the year. Markets such as Nasdaq 100, TSLA, and NVDA frequently reached hundreds of millions of dollars in daily trading volume.
On Hyperliquid HIP-3, equity markets like XYZ100, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, have seen daily trading volumes reaching hundreds of millions of USD. At the same time, MEXC has also recorded strong trading activity, especially as stock futures on MEXC benefit from fee incentives similar to those applied to pure crypto pairs.
3. How Equity Perps Work?
Equity perps operate using a mechanism similar to crypto perpetual futures, with the reference asset being the price of a real stock. This price is sourced from traditional equity markets such as NASDAQ or NYSE and then brought on-chain through oracles like Pyth or Chainlink.
Some platforms also rely on composite indices aggregated from multiple exchanges to improve data reliability. Among oracle providers, Pyth is often preferred due to its sub-second update frequency, which helps minimize price lag. This is especially critical when trading stock-based assets on blockchain infrastructure.
The perpetual structure allows traders to hold positions indefinitely without worrying about contract expiry. Profit and loss are calculated based on the reference price to reduce abnormal volatility and maintain trading stability.
The key mechanism that keeps perp prices aligned with spot prices is the funding rate, a periodic payment exchanged between long and short positions. When the perp price trades above spot, longs pay funding to shorts. When it trades below spot, shorts pay longs. Because equities are generally less volatile than crypto, funding rates for equity perps tend to be more stable, typically ranging from 5 to 11 percent annually, although they can spike during earnings announcements or major news events.
Trading equity perps also involves leverage and margin systems similar to crypto perps. Traders can open positions using margin denominated in USDT, USDC, or native platform tokens, with leverage typically ranging from 10x to 50x depending on the protocol and risk parameters.
If price moves unfavorably and margin value falls below maintenance requirements, the system triggers liquidation mechanisms to protect platform stability. In cases where positions fall deeply negative, insurance funds are used to absorb losses, reduce bad debt, and keep the market functioning smoothly.
4. Key Barriers and Risks of Equity Perps
Despite the opportunities equity perps bring to on-chain markets, they also come with notable risks. The most significant is oracle risk. Delayed or inaccurate stock price data can lead to incorrect liquidations. Funding rates can also spike sharply when there is a large divergence between perp and spot prices, especially during volatile periods or outside US market hours.
Another risk arises from the fact that traditional equity markets close while perp markets trade 24/7. This can expose traders to liquidation risk if prices move unfavorably while spot markets are unable to respond immediately. In addition, because stocks are regulated securities, platforms offering equity perps face legal and regulatory uncertainty. Markets with lower liquidity are also more vulnerable to long or short squeezes and potential price manipulation.
That said, the long-term outlook for equity perps remains compelling. As perp markets operate continuously and attract deeper liquidity, stock price discovery may gradually shift on-chain, particularly during off-hours. Both CeFi and DeFi platforms are racing to list new assets and expand their user bases, driving the growth of a more diverse derivatives market. At the same time, the convergence of RWA and perpetuals is shaping a more complete on-chain capital market, where equities, indices, bonds, and even pre-IPO assets can be traded 24/7.
According to multiple forecasts, by 2026 equity perps could become the largest segment of the crypto derivatives market, surpassing traditional crypto perps due to their ability to bridge TradFi and DeFi, attract global capital, and operate continuously without reliance on traditional stock market hours.
5. Conclusion
Equity Perps are not a short-term speculative narrative, nor do they generate the kind of explosive FOMO seen with meme coins or AI tokens. Instead, they represent an infrastructure-level narrative that reflects how the crypto market is expanding its role.
If crypto continues to evolve as a borderless global financial layer, trading stocks through perpetual futures is a logical next step. Equity perps may not explode overnight, but they play a critical role in:
- Attracting TradFi traders
- Retaining professional crypto traders
- Expanding the range of tradable assets
From this perspective, Equity Perps are not merely a new product, but a clear signal that crypto is gradually moving beyond the framework of “only trading crypto” and closer to its ambition of becoming a fully fledged financial infrastructure.
Disclaimer: This content does not constitute investment, tax, legal, financial, or accounting advice. MEXC provides this information for educational purposes only. Always do your own research, understand the risks, and invest responsibly.
