Bitget’s
stock futures contracts surpassed $1 billion in cumulative trading volume,
reaching the milestone two weeks after hitting the $500 million mark, according
to company figures released today (Thursday).
These
figures clearly indicate that the boom in tokenized equities is not just a
passing fad, but a hot trend that traditional large exchange operators are also
starting to embrace.
Bitget Cracks $1B in Stock
Trading as Wall Street Goes Tokenized
The crypto
exchange, which claims 120 million users globally, launched
USDT-margined perpetual futures tied to 25 U.S. stocks in July. Traders can
access derivatives on companies including Apple, Amazon, Meta, and NVIDIA with
leverage up to 25x and fees at or below 0.06%.
Tesla
futures led volume with $380 million in trades, followed by Strategy at $262
million and Apple at $87 million. The three stocks accounted for roughly 73% of
total activity on the platform.
The growth
coincides with gains in U.S. equity markets, where the S&P 500 has climbed
18% this year through Tuesday’s close, driven partly by earnings beats from
technology companies and renewed interest in AI-focused stocks.
“Crossing
the $1 billion mark in such a short time shows how fast traders are embracing
stock futures as part of a unified digital trading experience,” said Gracy
Chen, CEO of Bitget.
“It’s a signal that the line between traditional markets and digital
assets is disappearing, and our Universal Exchange model is where that
convergence is happening first.”
Crypto Platforms Add Stock
Products
Bitget
expanded its stock-linked offerings this week with perpetual futures tied to
Netflix, Futu Holdings, JD.com, Reddit, and the Nasdaq-100 index tracking fund.
The additions follow the platform’s initial July rollout, when it integrated
xStocks technology to enable 24/5 trading of tokenized equities.
“We’re
entering a new phase of market access, one where crypto, stocks, and
traditional finance don’t compete, they coexist and complement each other,” Chen
commented in July.
Kraken
announced similar capabilities in May, joining Robinhood
and other platforms offering crypto users access to traditional equity
markets through blockchain-based instruments. The products allow trading
outside standard market hours and settlement in seconds rather than the two-day
clearing window used by conventional brokerages.
Switzerland’s
financial regulator FINMA recently granted a distributed ledger technology
trading license to
BX Digital, a platform backed by Boerse Stuttgart Group. The exchange plans
to list over 100 tokenized stocks and ETFs issued by Ondo Finance, giving
European institutional investors blockchain-based versions of U.S. equities
that settle in real time.
Questions Around Product
Structure
The crypto
industry’s push into stock trading comes as tokenized securities gain
regulatory acceptance in select jurisdictions. Switzerland has emerged as an
early testing ground for blockchain-based financial instruments, while U.S.
regulators have yet to establish clear frameworks for domestic offerings.
Bitget’s
stock futures function as derivatives rather than direct equity ownership.
Users trade contracts settled in Tether’s USDT stablecoin, with positions
tracking price movements of underlying stocks without conferring shareholder
rights or direct exposure to corporate actions like dividends.
The
structure resembles contracts for difference, a leveraged derivative
product popular in Europe and Asia but restricted for retail traders in the
United States. CFDs have faced criticism from regulators over high loss rates
among retail users, with European Securities and Markets Authority data showing
74–89% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Bitget
operates from Seychelles and restricts access for U.S. residents. The
platform’s stock futures remain available to users in jurisdictions where
crypto derivatives trading is permitted.
The $1
billion volume figure represents cumulative trading activity since the July
launch rather than open interest or assets under management. Bitget has not
disclosed user counts specifically for its stock futures products or broken out
profitability of the offering.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
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