OKX Launches Perpetual Futures for Apple, Nvidia, and Other US Stocks, Connecting Crypto Traders Directly to US Equity Markets

On March 4, 2026, crypto exchange OKX officially launched perpetual futures contracts for nine US stocks and ETFs, allowing users to use USDT as margin to directly trade with leverage on assets such as Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Google (GOOGL), Meta (META), Micron (MU), SanDisk (SNDK), QQQ, and SPY. These contracts were launched sequentially every 15 minutes starting at 07:00 UTC, completing the full deployment by 09:00, aiming to alleviate liquidity pressure and ensure a smooth launch.

The selection of these underlying assets was not random but precisely matched the investment preferences of crypto users. Among them, six are leading technology giants by market capitalization, which have long been regarded by crypto traders as barometers of macro sentiment. QQQ and SPY track the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indices, respectively, allowing users to deploy across the entire US market with one click without opening a US stock brokerage account. Micron and SanDisk are directly connected to the core track of AI infrastructure—semiconductors, further enhancing the product's appeal to AI-themed traders.

These contracts are all perpetual futures, with no expiration date. They maintain a close link between prices and the spot market through a funding rate mechanism: when the contract price is higher than the spot price, longs pay fees to shorts; conversely, shorts pay fees to longs, thereby avoiding actual delivery. Importantly, users do not own any real stocks and do not enjoy voting rights, dividend rights, or corporate M&A benefits, only gaining financial exposure to price fluctuations. The leverage range is set from 0.01x to 5x, far lower than the 20x or even 100x levels common in the cryptocurrency market, reflecting the platform's prudent attitude towards the lower volatility and higher regulatory risks of traditional assets. For example, a 5% single-day fluctuation in Nvidia is already a significant move, while in the Bitcoin market, such a magnitude may only be a normal fluctuation. Currently, this feature is only available to jurisdictions supported by OKX, and US users cannot participate due to regulatory restrictions. The target audience is mainly crypto-native traders in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, who often face cumbersome processes for opening US stock accounts, high currency exchange costs, and difficult access to local markets. For these users, trading SPY or AAPL directly through USDT has become an efficient and convenient alternative. However, its actual advantages still need to be observed through key indicators such as funding rates, spreads, and tracking accuracy under market pressure.