# FAQs
### What is Backpack Securities?
Backpack Securities lets you buy and sell **real U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs** directly inside your Backpack account, settled in USD.
These are genuine securities, not synthetic products, CFDs, perpetuals, or wrappers. When a trade fills, the shares are held for you as real **security entitlements** — the same private property rights when you hold shares at firms like Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, and Robinhood. On Backpack, your stocks simply appear as balances in your portfolio, right next to your crypto.
| | |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **What you trade** | Real U.S. stocks (S\&P 500 names) and ETFs |
| **Settlement currency** | USD |
| **Trading model** | Instant quote-based execution |
| **Liquidity** | Access to real U.S. market liquidity (NYSE & NASDAQ) |
| **Account** | Same account as your crypto — no separate stocks login or balance |
There's no separate stocks account, balance, or login. Your USD, BTC, SOL, and AAPL all live together in one portfolio.
For a deeper look at how ownership and custody work legally, see the companion page **Backpack Securities: Real ownership & legal framework**.
***
### Who can access Backpack Securities
Backpack Securities is in invite-only private beta, so access is limited:
* **You need an invite code.** Until you redeem one, the Backpack Securities pages won't appear.
* **You'll accept a one-time agreement before your first trade.** This is required for compliance with applicable laws.
* **KYC is required.** If your Backpack account is already verified, you're set — there's no extra stocks-specific verification step.
**Where Backpack Securities isn't available:**
* Not available to users in the certain jurisdictions including the **United States**, **Japan**, or the **United Kingdom**.
* Not offered on **Backpack EU**.
***
### How trading works
Backpack Securities provides access to real U.S. market liquidity through an instant, quote-based trading experience.
When you enter an order, Backpack requests a live quote based on current market pricing and available liquidity, then displays it in the order form for your review.
**Trading process**
1. Select a stock or ETF and enter the quantity you wish to trade.
2. Backpack retrieves a live quote based on current market conditions.
3. Review the quoted price and confirm your order.
4. Your order is executed at the quoted price.
Quotes are live and automatically refreshed while you review your order to ensure pricing remains current. If market conditions change before execution, Backpack will provide an updated quote for your review.
This approach allows you to see and accept the execution price before placing your trade. Unlike order-book-based markets, there are no maker/taker mechanics, order-book matching, or slippage settings to manage.
You can trade both individual stocks and ETFs through the same process. ETFs additionally display information about their underlying holdings on the stock detail page.
***
### Trading hours
Backpack follows the full U.S. equities schedule. The pulse indicator on the Backpack Securities page shows which session is active in real time. All times are **U.S. Eastern Time (ET)**.
| Session | Eastern Time | Days | What you can trade |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| **Overnight** | 8:00pm – 4:00am | Sun night → Fri morning | Whole shares only |
| **Pre-market** | 4:00am – 9:30am | Mon – Fri | Whole shares only |
| **Regular hours** | 9:30am – 4:00pm | Mon – Fri | Whole **and** fractional shares |
| **After-hours** | 4:00pm – 8:00pm | Mon – Fri | Whole shares only |
| **Closed** | Fri 8:00pm → Sun 8:00pm, and U.S. market holidays | — | No trading |
{% hint style="info" %}
**Fractional shares are available only during regular hours** (9:30am–4:00pm ET, Mon–Fri). At all other times — overnight, pre-market, and after-hours — you can trade whole shares only.
{% endhint %}
Holidays and early closes are handled automatically. On a market holiday the indicator shows "Market Closed" and no trades can be placed. On an early-close day, regular hours end earlier and the after-hours session starts earlier. Markets are closed on weekends from Friday 8:00pm ET until the overnight session reopens Sunday 8:00pm ET.
***
### Funding and fees
**Buys are funded from your available USD.** A couple of things to know:
* **Lent USD counts as available.** If your USD is in the Backpack lending pool, it's automatically pulled back to fund your stock buy — you don't need to redeem it first. The available balance shown on the order form already includes your lent USD.
* **No margin or borrowing on stock buys.** Backpack won't auto-borrow USD to fund a stock purchase, and there's no margin toggle on the stock order form. If you want to use borrowed USD, you can manually borrow it (with Auto Lend off) and then buy. **For now, your stocks can't be used as collateral** for other positions.
Selling a stock returns USD to your available balance.
**Fees during beta:** there's **no explicit commission** on stock trades. Instead, a small spread is built into the quoted price. You're not charged anything separate on top.
The full fee, rebate, and VIP model for stock trading is being designed for public launch, so the spread-only approach above is the beta default.
***
### Managing your position
Once a buy fills, your shares appear as a balance in your Backpack portfolio — for example, "0.5 AAPL" — right alongside your USD, BTC, and other assets. There's nothing extra to manage.
{% hint style="warning" %}
Stock cannot currently be moved to an external wallet or transferred to another platform — that's coming as we move toward public launch (see below).
{% endhint %}
***
### Coming as we move toward public launch and beyond
The brokerage structure behind Backpack Securities supports the features below, but they aren't enabled for beta users yet. They're being worked on as we move toward public launch and beyond.
* **Cash dividend payouts.** Dividend data is shown on stock detail pages for information today; actual payouts will arrive later (tax certifications such as Form W-8BEN will apply once enabled).
* **Stock splits and corporate actions reflected in your balances.** Split and corporate-action info is shown for information today; balance adjustments are coming.
* **Voting rights.**
* **Transferring stock out** to another broker via ACATS / DTCC.
* **Using stocks as collateral for other positions** — a longer-term goal beyond the initial launch.
* **The full fee model** replacing the beta spread-only pricing.
***
### Frequently asked questions
I can't find Backpack Securities — why?
During the private beta, Backpack Securities is web-only: you'll find it on the global Backpack website (backpack.exchange) in your browser, not in the native mobile app — so it won't show up if you're looking in the app. If you're on the web and still can't see it, check that you've redeemed an invite code (access is invite-only during beta) and that you're in a\
supported region. Backpack Securities isn't offered on Backpack EU, or to users in certain other jurisdictions including the US, Japan, the UK, and the UAE.
Why don't I see an order book?
Backpack Securities is quote-based, not order-book based. You request a price, Backpack Securities returns a live quote, and you accept it. There's no other side of the trade to match against the way there is on a crypto market.
Why are spreads wider overnight or in pre-market?
There's less liquidity outside regular hours, so quotes are naturally wider — especially overnight.
Can I trade fractional shares?
Only during regular hours (9:30am–4:00pm ET, Monday–Friday). Outside regular hours — including overnight, pre-market, and after-hours — only whole-share quantities are accepted.
Where's my dividend?
Cash dividend payouts aren't enabled during beta. Dividend data is shown on the stock detail page for information only for now. Payouts are coming as we move toward public launch.
A stock I own had a 2:1 split, but my balance didn't change. Why?
Splits aren't yet applied to balances during beta — the split info on the stock page is informational for now. Reflecting splits and corporate actions in your balance is coming
Can I move my stock to an external wallet or another platform?
Not during beta. External transfers (including ACATS transfers to another broker) are coming as we move toward public launch.
What does "No quote available" mean?
The broker didn't return a price within a few seconds. The most common reasons are that the market is closed, the stock has very low liquidity, or there was a brief momentary issue. You can simply retry.
I clicked Buy and the trade failed — what happened?
A few things can cause this: the price moved past your quote between confirming and filling, the order couldn't be filled within the timeout window and was cancelled, or funds were moved out of your account before settlement so there wasn't enough left to complete the trade. You can re-quote and try again.
My trade has been pending for a while.
Most trades fill within seconds. If a trade has been pending noticeably longer, it's either filling slowly or has timed out. If it doesn't resolve, you can re-quote and place the order again.
Can I trade stocks on mobile?
Backpack Securities works on the web app, including the web app in your phone's browser. Native mobile-app support is being built now.
Is there a fee?
During beta there's no explicit commission. A small spread is built into the quoted price, and you aren't charged anything separate on top. The complete fee model is being designed for public launch.
Can I use my stocks as collateral for other positions?
Not during the private beta — stock balances don't currently count toward margin or act as collateral for other positions. Using stocks as collateral is something we are working towards, but it isn't available today.
Why did the price refresh on its own?
Quotes are valid for only a few seconds. When one expires while you're looking at the order form, Backpack automatically requests a fresh quote, and the new price replaces the old one.
What stocks can I trade?
S\&P 500 names plus ETFs spanning equity indices, commodity products (such as gold and oil), and regional market benchmarks. These are US-listed stocks and ETFs only — other markets (for example, Hong Kong listings) aren't supported. The Backpack Securities home page lets you browse by category, see the most active stocks by volume, and filter between individual stocks and ETFs.
What's the "overnight" session — I thought stocks didn't trade after 8pm?
There's an overnight trading window from 8:00pm to 4:00am ET (Sunday night through Friday morning). It's whole-shares-only and spreads are wider than during regular hours, but it does run. The pulse indicator on the Backpack Securities page shows when it's active.
Can my stocks be liquidated, or affect my crypto and perp positions?
No. Today, stocks aren't traded on margin and can't be used as collateral, so a stock position can't be force-liquidated and doesn't put your other balances or positions at risk. (If you choose to fund a purchase with borrowed USD, the usual borrowing rules apply to that loan — but the stock holding itself isn't margined.)
Can I set a stop-loss or take-profit on a stock order?
Not during beta. Stock trading uses the quote flow only — you review a live quote and confirm. Conditional order types like stop-loss and take-profit aren't available for stocks yet.
Can I use trading bots, copy trading, or the API with stocks?
Not during beta. Automated and programmatic tools — including the Grid bot, and API — aren't available for stocks yet. Stock trading is manual through the quote flow for now.
Can I lend out my stocks to earn yield?
No. Only USD and supported crypto can be lent through Backpack's lending pool — stock balances can't be lent out.
Is there a minimum amount to start trading?
There's no fixed minimum. You just need enough USD for the share or fractional-share amount you want to buy — and because fractional shares are available during regular hours, you can start small.
What happens if a company I hold is delisted?
Corporate actions like delistings are handled through the underlying brokerage infrastructure. If a stock becomes unavailable to trade, you may only be able to close (sell) the position, and any action you need to take will be communicated. How some corporate actions are reflected in your balance is part of what's rolling out toward public launch.
How are my stocks taxed, and do you provide tax documents?
You're responsible for any taxes that apply to your own trading activity, based on your jurisdiction. During beta, Backpack doesn't provide tax statements, cost-basis, or profit-and-loss reports for stocks. We recommend keeping your own records and consulting a qualified tax adviser.
***
To understand how your stock ownership works legally — including security entitlements, custody, and the regulated brokers behind Backpack Securities — see the companion page **Backpack Securities: Real ownership & legal framework**.
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