Cryptoexchange MEXC has started letting users buy real shares in US-listed companiesand collect any dividends on them, settling the trades in the stablecoin USDT.The exchange said the new service, called RealStocks, pushes it past thetokenized stock products that swept the industry last year.MEXC saidlate Sunday that eligible users can purchase shares in real US companiesthrough a licensed broker partner, with the same market exposure and liquidityas ordinary US equity markets. The company, however, did not name the broker.Trades runinside MEXC's existing crypto interface and follow Nasdaq trading hours, theexchange said. Platform trading fees are waived during the launch period,though MEXC noted that regulatory and exchange charges, including SEC and FINRAfees, still apply.Real Shares, Not SyntheticTokensThe sellingpoint MEXC is leaning on is ownership. The company said RealStocks buyers holdactual shares and the dividends that come with them, rather than the kind of tokenized stock that only tracks a price.Thatframing is a direct shot at the format that dominated crypto's push intoequities through 2025. Many of those products gave traders price exposurewithout the dividends or shareholder rights attached to the underlying shares.CEO VugarUsi said the product lets users "truly own world-class traditionalfinancial assets within a familiar crypto trading environment," accordingto the company. He tied the timing to a runof expected technology IPOs in 2026, including SpaceX.MEXC addedthe service drew more than 20,000 users during a beta phase before the widerrollout.Crypto Exchanges Race IntoEquity TradingMEXC is thelatest crypto venue to chase stock traders. The race kicked off in earnest lastJune, when Kraken and Bybit listed tokenized USstocks within hoursof each other under the xStocks brand, built with Swiss issuer Backed Finance.Otherspiled in quickly. Bitget integrated xStocks alongsideRobinhood and Krakenin July, while KuCoin rolled out its own tokenizedequities shortlyafter. Robinhood's version, which included tokens tied to OpenAI and SpaceX,drew regulatory scrutiny in the European Union.MEXC itselfalready sells equity exposure through USDT-settled stock futures with upto 5x leverage.RealStocks is a different bet. Where the tokenized products and futures offerderivative or synthetic exposure, MEXC says this one routes orders to a realbroker and delivers real shares, closer to a traditional brokerage account thanto a blockchain token.Thedistinction has become a point of contention in the sector. Kraken, which ownsBacked Finance and says its xStocks have cleared $25 billion intrades, has called rivals that tokenize privatecompany shares risky for investors who can struggle to sell.The Broker and the FinePrintSeveraldetails remain thin. MEXC has not disclosed which licensed broker handles thetrades, how shares are custodied, or how the USDT-to-dollar conversion ispriced.The serviceis also limited by geography. MEXC said RealStocks is available only in certainjurisdictions, with access restricted elsewhere by local law. The statementcarried a Comoros dateline, an offshore base, and the exchange has facedregulatory friction before. Hong Kong'ssecurities regulator placed MEXC on a warning list over unlicensedactivity in 2024.The"0-fee" label also has limits. MEXC said the waiver covers only itsown platform charge, and that users still face SEC transaction fees, FINRAactivity fees, and clearing and exchange costs.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.