Imagine buying a piece of Nvidia at midnight on a Saturday from Abu Dhabi. Starting at just $5, that is now real for eligible investors in the UAE. Binance has launched B Stocks here — tokenised versions of US stocks that trade 24/7. The rulebook behind it is not written in New York. It is written in Abu Dhabi. Joining me is Tarik Erk, MENAT Regional Head and Senior Executive Officer Abu Dhabi at Binance. Tarik, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for having me. Pleasure.
B Stocks launched in Bahrain in July. Why Bahrain first?
We launched our global business in June. The challenge from there is what other markets can we do this in at a local level. We assess market by market — whether this is a product that has regulatory authorisation, whether we need to get approvals, and whether this is suitable for the local market. Bahrain was assessed to be able to do it fairly quickly after the global launch, which we were very happy about. And then to have it live in the UAE from September is something we are quite excited about.
Why the UAE and why now?
From the global launch we learned the significant demand and growth this product was experiencing. Within several weeks we saw about $500 million in AUM on our platform. The demand was certainly there — mostly from crypto-native traders and users wanting exposure to this asset class. The UAE is one of the leading crypto adoption markets, but also keen on having exposure to US equities. And as a regulated exchange within the UAE under VARA, we had the infrastructure to support a localised launch.
Binance could have gone a lighter regulatory route. Why put this inside ADGM securities rules?
With traditional financial products, there is a level of maturity with higher expectations when it comes to equities. As we expand more into the TradFi space, ADGM had the setup to enable the launch of these types of products. In January of this year, our exchange, clearinghouse, and broker dealer licences went live — giving us the infrastructure to build on that, as well as the technology entity to do the tokenisation of US stocks. We basically had all angles of the product, distribution, and exchange infrastructure built. This is best in class to do it for a global customer base.
If I buy a Tesla B Stock, what do I actually own?
It differs from a direct US equity product. You are buying the tokenised version — a representation of the underlying equity, which is then in custody through ourselves or a partner. You are able to trade this 24/7 receiving price exposure, which is the most important part of investing in a US stock. You have some limited rights when it comes to voting shares, but dividend distribution is something you may also be entitled to. And this has on-chain capabilities — deposit, withdraw, and more trading flexibility since it is 24/7.
Tokenised stock volume went from $137 million in January to nearly $8 billion in August. Who is driving that demand?
We are seeing this being driven significantly from emerging markets — almost 90% from growing markets where people may not have had access to these products before. There was so much friction or high costs to do so. We are eliminating those barriers. We are also seeing it largely from Gen Z — nearly half of our users doing so were Gen Z. They are digitally savvy, crypto native, and very familiar with the Binance platform. For them it was the perfect way to access this asset class because they were already trading or using our products.
What has the UAE gotten right when it comes to regulation?
This is not just hyperbole — this is one of the top markets where we are able to operate a digital asset business. That starts with the transparency to operate in a regulated space. VARA now has over 55 licensed entities operating in its ecosystem. ADGM also has a significant number of exchanges, custodians, and tokenised licensed firms. That gives you the confidence that you can run the business here, localise the products you want to offer, and get banking access to have fiat on and off your platforms. That combination may seem obvious, but it is not available everywhere. The UAE is very forward looking and it is definitely a national priority.
Thank you so much.
