Ondo Joins Perps Race Against Hyperliquid, Coinbase — Allows Tokenized Stocks As Collateral

• Ondo on Tuesday launched its on-chain perpetual trading platform, allowing users to trade tokenized stocks with up to 20x leverage.
• It will be competing with decentralized perpetual exchanges such as Hyperliquid, ApeX Protocol, Aster and Lighter, along with centralized exchanges including Coinbase.
• Traders will be able to use tokenized stocks as collateral instead of converting their holdings into stablecoins.

Ondo (ONDO) on Tuesday announced its entry into the on-chain perpetuals race with Ondo Preps. It will be going up against Hyperliquid (HYPE), Aster (ASTER), ApeX Protocol (APEX), and Lighter (LIT) as well as centralized exchanges like Coinbase (COIN), who have also recently ventured into the space. 

Ondo stated traders would be able to open perpetual positions with up to 20x leverage on tokenized stocks including SpaceX (SPCX), Nvidia (NVDA), Coinbase (COIN), Robinhood (HOOD), and Strategy (MSTR). The broader lineup spans other large-cap equities, gold, silver, oil, and index products tracking the US 100 and US 500. 

The company added that its core differentiator will be that tokenized stocks can be posted as collateral, letting traders back a leveraged position without first converting to stablecoins. It stated Ondo Perps would be available today for pre-alpha users and accessible to traders globally outside the U.S., Panama, and other prohibited jurisdictions.

"During private beta, nearly $2 billion in volume traded through the platform, showcasing how much appetite there is for equity perps built on real market liquidity," CEO Ian De Bode disclosed in a post on X. 24-hour trading volume on the platform crossed $100 million on the first day of going public.

Ondo Expands Beyond Tokenization

Ondo first teased the product at its Ondo Summit in February, then opened early access on March 27 with a smaller lineup of 16 stocks and three commodities. The launch also follows a leadership transition at the company. Founder and CEO Nathan Allman passed away earlier this year, with President Bode stepping into the CEO role and continuing the company's push beyond tokenization into trading. 

In the past, Ondo has said evolving U.S. regulatory clarity, including the CFTC's approval of the country's first regulated Bitcoin perpetual future in May, factored into its timeline for pushing ahead with equity perpetuals.

Perps Launch Fails To Lift ONDO Token Price

Despite its new foray, ONDO’s price dipped over 1% in the last 24 hours to around $0.33 amid broader weakness in the cryptocurrency market after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard reportedly fired at two commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz and Brent crude oil prices rose to over $74 a barrel.

However, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment around ONDO improved to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day, while chatter stayed at ‘high’ levels. One crypto investor on the platform shrugged off rumours that President Donald Trump may hold the token, stating that there was “no need,” but noted that future moves around how token holders will determine price growth.

ONDO’s token price wasn’t the only one to take a hit. ASTER’s price edged 0.7% lower in the last 24 hours, while LIT’s price dropped over 4%. The only token within the cohort to buck the trend was Hyperliquid. HYPE’s price rose 1.8% in the last 24 hours following HYPE ETFs recording record cumulative net inflows of over $300 million.

When it came to retail sentiment, Stocktwits data showed sentiment trending in the ‘extremely bullish’ and ‘bullish’ territory for Aster and Lighter, respectively, but sentiment around Hyperliquid was in the ‘extremely bearish’ zone. 

ONDO’s price has gained over 9% in the last week, but is down over 57% in the past year. For comparison, HYPE’s price has gained over 80% in the last year with a 10% jump in the last week.

Read also: A Crypto Trade Group Just Joined The Fight To Stop Someone From Claiming Satoshi-Linked Bitcoin

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