multi-asset perpetual futuresEdition of 24 September 2026Figures dated at source
multi-asset perpetual futures
Stock Perpetuals and Where They Trade
Cross-Asset Desk ResearchUpdated: Terms read 18 September 2026
Stock perpetuals track a listed share's price with USDT as collateral and no share ever changing hands.
Six venues on the register list them; Lighter leads our scoring at 90 of 100. An
equity gaps at an opening bell. The margin behind a leveraged position is all it has, and a market that gaps can take the lot.
Weights32What one account reaches28Cost of getting in and out18Custody of the margin12How the venue has held up10The book behind the quoteHow we rate
Venues listing equity or index perpetuals
Terms read 18 September 2026
Ordered by the overall score. The classes column shows how equity exposure sits inside each venue's wider
listing, because on all of them shares are a side product of a crypto perpetual venue rather than a
brokerage service. It is also the column that decides the rows: this desk scores a venue only when its
own documentation lists four or more asset classes outside crypto, which is why ApeX Omni and Paradex,
both of which list shares and stop at three classes, are read by this desk and ranked nowhere.
Rates quoted are the entry tier on the BTC perpetual; counts are the venues' own. Equal totals share a place. Whether a desk may open an account at all is a matter for the venue's terms, not for this page. Figures as read on 18 September 2026; the rule beside a score compares that venue with the highest total on this page.
What the ranking turns on
No brokerage account: a wallet signature opens the position, and nothing is registered in your name.
No dividends, no votes: the contract tracks a price and pays funding, nothing else.
Widest equity lists: Aster and Extended, at 578 and 325 markets across all classes.
Open when the exchange is shut: EVEDEX documents 24/7 trading on its five US shares and its index market.
1. Lighter — for equities inside the cheapest venue here
Lighter lists stocks among six asset classes across 214 markets
(Lighter docs, checked 18 September 2026), with the default account at
0% maker / 0% taker. Trades are proven on Ethereum in batches and exits can be forced on-chain.
In favour
0% maker and taker on the default account
On-chain exit documented
Against it
Hours stated for its real-world-asset markets but not venue-wide
300 ms taker delay on the free tier
Not for: traders who need the equity session written down.
Extended lists 325 markets across five classes, equities and pre-IPO contracts
among them (Extended docs, checked 18 September 2026), at 0% maker / 0.025% taker for
every account, with audits and a bug bounty behind it.
In favour
325 markets, pre-IPO included
Public bug bounty of up to $500,000
Against it
Prime real-world-asset markets halt outside their sessions
No documented forced withdrawal
Not for: traders who want an operator-independent exit.
Aster carries stocks and indices among six asset classes across 578 markets
(Aster docs, checked 18 September 2026) at 0% maker / 0.040% taker. Its Shield Mode quotes
stock pairs at higher leverage than the order book, with a cap on profit per position.
In favour
578 perpetual markets
0% maker fee
Against it
Chain contracts are not open-sourced
Shield Mode caps profit per position
Not for: a desk that needs the chain under its positions publicly validated.
Of the 324 markets in four classes, a large share were deployed by builders
rather than chosen by the venue
(Hyperliquid docs, checked 18 September 2026). The entry tier reads
0.015% maker / 0.045% taker, and its BTC book held a median $10.1 million inside
10 bps.
In favour
Median BTC depth of $10.1 million
Every order recorded on its own chain
Against it
Builder-deployed markets are not reviewed by the interface operator
No documented forced withdrawal
Not for: traders who want every listing vetted by one operator.
EVEDEX lists TSLA, COIN, MSTR, CRCL and SPCX plus an SPY index market, with up to 50x leverage on
them, and states that all 52 of its markets trade 24/7
(18 September 2026, EVEDEX documentation). Margin is cross only, posted in USDT. Fees are
0.015% maker / 0.045% taker before cashback on fees already paid.
In favour
Equity markets documented as open 24/7
Shares, metals, energy and crypto in one USDT balance
Against it
Five equity markets against dozens on oracle-priced venues
Cross margin only, so one loss eats another position's collateral
Not for: UK retail clients.
6. Aevo — for equities and ETFs in the same margin account
Aevo's market list carries 32 equity markets and four ETF markets — SPY, QQQ, SOXL and DRAM — among
102 perpetuals (Aevo market list, checked 18 September 2026). Real-world-asset
contracts are capped at 10x where BTC runs to 20x, and every position draws on one margin pool. Rates
are 0.050% maker / 0.080% taker.
In favour
32 equity markets and four ETF markets in one list
One margin pool behind equity and crypto alike
Against it
Equity contracts capped at 10x against 20x on BTC
No trading-hours policy in the documentation we read
Not for: traders who need an equity position closable at a stated hour.
It is a contract on a share price with no expiry, margined in stablecoin. It is not a share: there is
no register entry, no dividend, no vote and no claim on the company. Corporate actions — splits,
dividends, delistings — are handled by each venue's own rules rather than by a transfer agent, and
those rules differ, which is worth reading before holding a position through one.
That structure is also why these markets open from a wallet with no paperwork. A brokerage account
exists to record ownership; a perpetual records only a position.
The session problem, in the market where it bites hardest
Equities have the shortest session of any asset class here: Ostium documents stocks from 9:30 to 16:00
ET on weekdays, auto-closing day trades at 15:45 and rejecting market orders outside the window
(Ostium market reference, checked 18 September 2026). Everything that moves a share price —
earnings, guidance, a regulatory filing — lands outside those hours by design.
EVEDEX states that its five US shares and its index market trade 24/7 like everything else it lists
(18 September 2026, EVEDEX documentation). Lighter says the same of its real-world-asset markets,
equities among them (Lighter docs, checked 18 September 2026), while Aster, Hyperliquid
and Aevo document no hours policy anywhere we read. A quote when the exchange is closed is the venue's
own opinion of the price, not a reflection of one, and it can move sharply when the market reopens.
How the comparison was made
Every column here but one is read rather than measured. On 18 September 2026 the desk read each
venue's terms and documentation for what it lists, when those markets are open, what it charges, who
can move the collateral. Depth nobody publishes, so the desk took it: each BTC perpetual book read
on a timer, ten minutes apart, closing 17:58 UTC on 20 September 2026. The desk keeps an account at none of them.
The same five criteria, settled on 23 September 2026 and set out on the method page, order
the 6 venues scored here.
The hours are the softest column here, and one page is ordered by them — a line in a venue's own
document about when a market is open, not something anyone watched. Custody is read the same way.
Depth is measured, but only on BTC, the one contract all of these venues run; thickness there says
nothing about the XAUT book beside it. Fees are the day-one rate, nothing a trader earns back taken
off.
The order-book readings
BTC perpetual order books read on a timer, ten minutes apart, closing 17:58 UTC on 20 September 2026. Each figure is the median of the successful snapshots behind it.
Venue
Median spread
Median depth within 10 bps
Median impact, $100,000 order
$10,000 round trip, taker fees
Snapshots
Lighter
0.27 bps
$16.5 million
0.45 bps
$0.00
17
Extended
0.12 bps
$7.4 million
0.06 bps
$5.00
17
Aster
0.01 bps
$13.8 million
0.39 bps
$8.00
27
Hyperliquid
0.12 bps
$10.1 million
0.06 bps
$9.00
28
EVEDEX
4.12 bps
$19.1 million
2.06 bps
$9.00
28
Aevo
1.61 bps
$3.8 million
2.87 bps
$16.00
28
Readers' questions
what are stock perpetuals
Perpetual contracts that track the price of a listed share, margined in USDT with no expiry date. They
give price exposure without ownership: no shareholding is registered, no dividend is paid, and the
position settles in stablecoin whatever the share does at the exchange.
can you trade stocks with crypto
Yes, as a contract on a share price rather than the share itself, with USDT as collateral. A wallet
signature replaces the brokerage account. Nothing is registered in your name, which is exactly why no
documents are requested at any point in the process.
how to trade stocks with crypto
Connect a wallet to a venue that lists an equity market, deposit USDT, then open a long or a short on
the share you want exposure to. Nothing is registered in your name and no brokerage account exists, so
there is no application, no documents and no settlement in dollars.
Do stock perpetuals pay dividends?
No. Funding payments between longs and shorts are the only cash flows in the contract, and they exist
to keep it near the underlying price. How a venue handles a dividend date or a split is set by its own
rules, which differ, so read them before holding through one.
Which stocks can you trade as perpetuals?
Large US-listed names, mostly. EVEDEX lists TSLA, COIN, MSTR, CRCL and SPCX plus an SPY index market;
Aster, Extended, Lighter and Aevo each carry their own sets alongside crypto; and the oracle-priced
Ostium lists dozens of equities and ETFs on top of that, with the cash session attached to each one.
Are stock perpetuals open after hours?
It depends entirely on the venue. Ostium follows the cash session, 9:30 to 16:00 ET on weekdays, and
rejects market orders outside it. EVEDEX describes equity exposure available around the clock, and
Lighter says its real-world-asset markets run continuously, which means the venue is quoting while the
exchange is shut.