A share is a bundle. It includes a price that moves, a right to dividends, a vote and a residual claim on the company. A stock perp takes one item from that bundle, the price, and leaves the rest. It settles in a stablecoin and holds no shares. Understanding what was left behind matters on the days when the other items are worth something.
No shares behind it
When you are long a stock perp, nobody has bought a share on your behalf. Your counterparty is another trader who is short the same contract. The two of you have agreed to exchange the change in price. There is no stock held anywhere for the contract, so there is nothing for a dividend to be paid on and nothing to vote.
What happens on a dividend date
When a stock goes ex-dividend, its price typically opens lower by about the amount of the dividend. A shareholder is made whole by the cash payment. What ex-dividend means covers the timing.
A perp follows the price. The price drops. A long perp holder receives no payment to offset it. In a dated future, expected dividends are built into the contract’s price in advance. A perp has no date, so any adjustment has to come through the premium and funding around the event. How much of it does, on a given book, is something to measure and not to assume. Read the market’s own terms before holding through a large dividend.
Splits and other corporate actions
A share split changes the price of a share without changing the value of a holding. A tokenized share handles this with a multiplier that adjusts for corporate actions. A perp has no share to adjust. How a book treats a split, a merger or a ticker change is set in that market’s terms, and it is worth knowing before the event.
No vote, no claim
A perp holder cannot vote at a shareholder meeting and has no standing as an owner. In a takeover, a shareholder is offered cash or new shares. A perp holder has a contract on a price that may stop being quoted. For a short-term trade none of this is relevant. For a position meant to last years, it is a reason the perp is a poor substitute for ownership, before funding is even counted.
What you get in exchange
The perp trades when the share cannot, takes leverage and can be shorted as easily as bought. Those are the reasons to use it. A stock token sits between the two: it represents a share and trades on-chain, as tokenized stocks and 24/7 equity exposure describes. A stock perp, a share and an option sets the three instruments side by side.
Where NoVo shows both
The Stocks On-Chain tab of the Crypto Market Map lists stock tokens and stock perps in one place. The tokens show shares on-chain and mint and redeem flow. The perps show mark, funding, open interest and premium. They are different instruments on the same names, and the tab keeps them apart.