Ondo Perps sees U.S. expansion opportunity for perpetual futures under different structure

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Ondo Perps U.S. perpetual futures

Highlights

Ondo Perps CEO David Wells sees major opportunity for U.S. perpetual futures but notes any offering would require different settlement and clearing models for compliance.
Ondo Perps platform enables trading of tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs, and commodities with up to 20 times leverage, using USDC or Ondo Stocks tokens as margin.
Since launch in July, Ondo Perps has generated $14 billion in trading volume and recently surpassed $100 million in open interest, signaling strong demand for tokenized real-world assets.

U.S. market structure shapes expansion options

As reported by The Block, Ondo Perps CEO David Wells says offering perpetual futures in the U.S. is a major opportunity, but any domestic product would differ from the offshore venue the company currently operates for non-U.S. users.

Speaking at an Ondo event in Seoul, Wells says the contract design and broader market structure could remain similar in a U.S. version, while settlement and clearing would need to change to comply with U.S. rules. He does not confirm plans for a U.S. launch and says the company has not gone too far in exploring that market.

Wells says the U.S. and offshore markets are likely to develop under two separate models. His comments come as U.S. regulators and companies examine how perpetual futures could enter domestic trading venues, including efforts involving Hyperliquid and Coinbase's filing for single-stock perpetuals.

Platform growth and tokenized collateral model

Ondo Perps, launched in July this year, operates as a Panama-based offshore trading venue for tokenized U.S. stocks, equity exchange-traded funds and commodities. The platform lets traders use USDC or eligible Ondo Stocks tokens as margin, with leverage of up to 20 times on some contracts.

Wells says the platform's main advantage is that users can post tokenized stocks as collateral while remaining invested in the underlying assets, which he describes as more capital-efficient than stablecoin-only margin models used by many other perpetual futures venues.

On Monday, Ondo Perps says users can buy and sell 12 Ondo Stocks directly on the platform, removing the need to manage collateral and trading positions across two venues. Wells says that access is expected to expand to all Ondo Stocks over time.

Since entering private beta, the platform has generated about $14 billion in trading volume and has recently recorded open interest of more than $100 million, according to Wells. He says those figures point to rising demand for real-world asset products and broader tokenization activity.

Our earlier report on global pension fund assets highlighted that retirement savings are rising toward near-record levels, with total pension assets projected to approach $73 trillion in 2025. We noted that the U.S. accounts for roughly $45 trillion of that sum, underscoring how the depth of American capital markets can influence liquidity, investment demand, and the evolution of new market offerings.

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