Dialogue with Bitget Product Manager: In the era of existing competition, what is the UEX that Bitget aims to create?

In this exclusive interview, we spoke with KH, the product head of Bitget, about Bitget's strategic layout and product evolution in the traditional financial assets (TradFi) direction over the past year.

As user demands expand from single crypto assets to a broader asset allocation, and with the gradual maturity of RWA and on-chain trading infrastructure, crypto exchanges are now in a position to incorporate traditional assets such as stocks, forex, precious metals, and commodities into their platforms. Bitget has successively launched on-chain trading capabilities, stock perpetual contracts, and through collaboration with MT5, introduced contract for difference (CFD) products, forming a multi-layered UEX that covers spot, derivatives, and RWA.

On the execution front, Bitget has entered the RWA space through collaboration with Ondo, leveraging on-chain trading and 1inch liquidity capabilities to facilitate the convenient trading of over 200 RWA tokens, gaining significant market share early on. Meanwhile, the CFD products, settled in stablecoins, with liquidity from top market makers and a 24/7 trading experience, demonstrate differentiated advantages compared to traditional brokers.

The interview also emphasized Bitget's long-term vision for the panoramic exchange (UEX): centered around a unified account, integrating CEX, DEX, and TradFi to achieve cross-asset trading, margin reuse, and higher capital utilization rates. Overall, Bitget views compliance capabilities, underlying infrastructure, product integration capabilities, and AI + Trading as key competitive pillars for the future, aiming to build the next generation of comprehensive trading platforms amidst the ongoing integration of crypto and traditional finance.

The views expressed by the guest do not represent those of Wu Shuo and do not constitute any investment advice. Please strictly adhere to local laws and regulations.

Why is Bitget accelerating the introduction of TradFi assets? How has the product evolved step by step?

KH: There are two core reasons. First, we believe the crypto industry is entering a new stage, with solutions like RWA gradually maturing; second, user asset demands have expanded from a single CEX crypto asset to include DEX and TradFi assets, which is a natural shift in user demand structure. For CEX, introducing a richer variety of asset classes also helps smooth out the strong bull and bear cycle fluctuations inherent in crypto, providing users with more diverse and flexible asset allocation options.

In terms of product rhythm, we have spent about a year continuously advancing this product line. Initially, we focused on on-chain trading-related products, followed by the early launch of stock token perpetual contracts, and in Q4 of last year, we introduced CFD contracts, which were fully opened to users in January this year. Overall, it has been a gradual process.

There have also been numerous challenges in execution. For instance, with on-chain trading products, we achieved seamless trading of all on-chain assets within the CEX account system early on and integrated the DEX trading experience. Subsequently, in Q3 of last year, we were the first to integrate Ondo's RWA tokens, bridging over 200 RWA targets through our on-chain trading capabilities, finding a new breakthrough for on-chain trading products. These capabilities were not fully planned from the start but evolved and improved through market changes and user feedback. Looking back, it was this product iteration that kept pace with market rhythms that allowed us to continuously seize new opportunities and gains amidst challenges.

Why did TradFi only start to be concentrated in recent years? What role did compliance thresholds play?

KH: From our own practice, the reason TradFi products began to be concentrated around 2025 is primarily due to the increased maturity of the entire industry chain, rather than just the willingness of exchanges. Taking on-chain trading and Ondo's RWA as examples, Ondo, as the issuer, has resolved many key issues regarding compliance of underlying assets, token issuance, and regulatory structure, allowing exchanges to participate within a compliant framework. This is the result of a gradually clarified division of labor within the industry chain.

For example, with CFD contracts, MT5 itself is a very mature and mainstream trading platform in the CFD market, providing a complete trading system and technical capabilities. What we needed to do was to apply for and obtain the necessary licenses under compliance and complete deep integration with MT5. The entire process spanned almost the whole of last year and made us acutely aware that both the exchanges themselves and the collaboration capabilities with traditional financial technology service providers are rapidly improving. If we look back to 2021 or 2022, many institutions lacked the compliance awareness, execution capabilities, and resource investment to truly implement these matters.

What problems does the recent major upgrade of Bitget's TradFi products aim to solve?

KH: The upgrade in February is essentially a systematic reconstruction of our TradFi product line, rather than just simply adding new products. This includes CFD contracts, on-exchange perpetual contracts, and RWA-related tokens, all of which we have unified under the broad asset framework of TradFi for organization and presentation.

This step was completed based on over a year of continuous construction and iteration. At this stage, we believe the TradFi products have developed a relatively complete basic framework, whether in terms of spot token forms or different types of derivatives, with trading capabilities, depth, and completeness already quite mature.

We also noticed that many exchanges in the market are gradually launching TradFi-related products, but the definition and usage of the term TradFi are unclear, leading to potential misunderstandings among users. Therefore, one of our goals is to help users better understand and participate in the TradFi market. TradFi is short for Traditional Finance, referring to a large category of assets, so we hope to define and guide users more accurately.

On the other hand, from an overall coverage perspective, our TradFi product line is relatively more systematic and comprehensive compared to all mainstream exchanges. Therefore, now is an appropriate time to clearly convey a change to users: Bitget has been iterating products along the UEX strategy, and the platform is no longer just an "app for trading crypto," but a truly unified trading system that integrates both crypto and traditional financial assets.

Internally, we refer to this version as the "super version," which can be understood as the trading platform entering the next stage. With this update, users will be able to intuitively feel this change when they open the app—TradFi is no longer a subdirectory of a secondary or tertiary menu but has a primary entry alongside crypto, representing that TradFi products will gain millions of new exposures each month. We should be one of the first mainstream exchanges to take this step.

Upon entering the TradFi Hub, users can find spot, perpetual contracts, and CFD related to TradFi assets, all in one place. It’s akin to how Alibaba placed the entrance for food delivery prominently within the Taobao app during the food delivery wars, showcasing its determination to enter the food delivery market. This update also conveys externally the strategic importance of the TradFi business within our organization and our confidence in being well-prepared at the product level. For users, this is also an "invitation," encouraging them to try enriching their investment portfolios and laying out global assets through a UEX like Bitget.

What is the relationship between UEX and TradFi? At what stage is this strategy currently?

KH: UEX is a long-term direction we proposed in the second half of last year, envisioning the "next version form" of exchanges, not just centralized or decentralized crypto exchanges; we believe traditional brokers are also transitioning towards UEX. The core feature of UEX is to allow users to trade global mainstream assets on one platform through a unified account and stablecoin settlement, including both crypto and TradFi, and even extending to DEX assets.

This concept was initially relatively abstract, but as foundational capabilities gradually improve, it is becoming more concrete. Last year, we completed the integration of CEX and DEX within the crypto ecosystem through on-chain trading products, and now, as the TradFi product line matures, the integration of crypto and TradFi has also materialized into product forms that users can genuinely perceive. UEX is no longer just a concept but an actual experience of "one platform, one account, trading multiple asset classes."

From a strategic cycle perspective, UEX is not just a short-term goal aimed at 2026, but a long-term direction spanning three to five years. At this stage, we are more focused on solidifying product infrastructure and user experience rather than pursuing aggressive growth targets.

From market feedback, performance has overall exceeded expectations. The trading volume of stock contracts launched in Q3 and Q4 has continued to grow, with quarterly trading volumes exceeding $15 billion; the monthly trading volume of Ondo-related RWA tokens has surpassed $1 billion, with Bitget once capturing 90% of the trading share of Ondo RWA assets; the TradFi CFD contracts launched in January of this year have also seen an average daily trading volume exceeding $4 billion, driven by precious metals market trends. These data validate the correctness of our direction, but even so, our current core goal remains to continuously refine foundational capabilities and overall experience, laying a solid foundation for the long-term evolution of UEX.

What advantages do Bitget's CFD contracts have over traditional brokers? How do you balance the asset expansion strategy?

KH: The traditional CFD market itself is already very mature, and our core advantage in this area is not simply "recreating a set," but rather achieving deep integration under compliance. We spent a considerable amount of time preparing for licenses and directly integrating with MT5. MT5 is one of the most mainstream multi-asset CFD trading platforms globally, providing us with stable and mature underlying trading capabilities.

The second obvious advantage is the settlement method. Compared to traditional forex brokers, we support settlement in stablecoins like USDT, which is a natural advantage evolved from CEX, significantly lowering the threshold for capital entry and exit, and we will gradually support more settlement currencies in the future.

The third advantage lies in the trading experience, especially in terms of liquidity and spreads. Currently, our spread levels can benchmark against the top standards in the CFD industry and exceed those of other exchanges that have integrated with MT5. Additionally, the capabilities accumulated by Bitget within the CEX system over the long term—including localized operations, 24/7 customer service, a mature risk control and fund security system, and continuous product iteration capabilities (market data, information, AI assistance, etc.)—collectively form a comprehensive advantage in user trust and experience.

In terms of asset selection, we tend to be pragmatic. Currently, about 80% of trading volume is concentrated in precious metals like gold and silver, as well as core stock indices, so the focus at this stage is also on these mainstream varieties, including precious metals, forex, stock indices, and some commodities. For global stocks and other mid-to-long tail assets, there is indeed user demand, but the challenges in compliance and execution are greater, and the actual trading volume is relatively limited. Therefore, our strategy is to prioritize focusing on leading assets, ensuring compliance and product quality before gradually assessing whether to expand into more categories.

Which users primarily contribute to TradFi trading volume? Crypto users or new users?

KH: Currently, both types of users coexist and drive growth together. The first type is "overlapping users." Taking CFDs as an example, MT5 itself has a large user base, a significant portion of which overlaps with the crypto market. These users were already trading on different platforms, and when they discovered they could trade both TradFi and crypto on one platform and use stablecoin settlements, the conversion cost was very low, and no additional user education was needed, making them the easiest group to convert.

The second type is traditional traders. Compared to many small and medium-sized forex brokers, Bitget has advantages in platform size, capital strength, product experience, and security, making it easier to establish trust. These users place more emphasis on whether the platform is stable and reliable, but their conversion takes longer and relies on continuous product refinement and market operations, and they are still in the gradual introduction phase.

Additionally, there is a portion of existing users from Bitget. When the market for precious metals like gold and silver is active, these users often adapt quickly and will naturally try TradFi-related products. Therefore, at this current stage, we can see a relatively clear structure: there are users overlapping between MT5 and the crypto market, as well as existing platform users participating in TradFi trading stimulated by market trends, and these groups together constitute the main source of trading volume.

What are the real challenges CFD faces in a highly volatile market?

KH: High volatility is both an opportunity and a challenge. CFD itself is a very mature market, with daily trading volumes reaching trillions of dollars, and the core lies in whether a stable and reliable liquidity system is in place. Therefore, in product design, we chose to deeply integrate with MT5 from the beginning and collaborated with the industry's top market makers on the liquidity side to ensure sufficient depth and stability under both normal and extreme market conditions.

From the actual results, currently, both the spread levels and liquidity performance under high volatility conditions can benchmark against the top standards in the CFD industry, which is the foundational capability we aim to achieve.

However, the real challenge is not just "bringing in" CFD products. If we merely do a physical-level splicing, simply embedding a page into the app, while it may be quick to implement, the experience will be very fragmented. We place greater importance on understanding the characteristics of CFD products and absorbing proven experiences from mature markets.

The greater difficulty lies in the integration of user experience. Crypto users and traditional trading users have significant differences in trading habits, usage paths, and focal points. How to provide a consistent and friendly cross-asset trading experience while accommodating the needs of both sides is a long-term project. This "inclusive" experience design is the core direction we continue to invest in and refine beyond high volatility markets.

Why does Bitget offer both perpetual contracts and CFD contracts for gold?

KH: The core reason for choosing gold as an asset is that it is inherently active and corresponds to two completely different user needs, thus requiring different product forms to accommodate them.

The first type is CFD contracts. CFDs are a highly mature market, and gold has always been one of the core assets with the best liquidity and highest proportion. Both traditional CFD users and traders overlapping with the crypto market are very familiar with gold CFDs, which have been long validated in terms of liquidity, leverage, and fees. Therefore, by integrating CFDs, we bring this mature and stable product capability to the Bitget platform.

The second type includes perpetual contracts for gold and silver tokens represented by XAU and XAG, as well as nearly 40 stock token perpetual contracts that have already been launched. These products are most familiar to crypto users because, whether in terms of account systems, margin models, or trading experiences, they are almost identical to cryptocurrency trading. Users can trade using a unified account, full margin, or combined margin, and support higher leverage on some popular assets, which feels very natural and seamless for crypto users.

From a positioning perspective, the two types of contracts serve different groups. Perpetual contracts allow crypto users to directly expand into traditional assets like gold or stocks within a familiar trading framework; at the same time, since this is an endogenous market, users can build cross-asset strategies under a unified account, such as holding both Bitcoin and stock positions simultaneously, or even using crypto assets as collateral to participate in traditional asset trading. This flexibility is the core reason for the coexistence of the two types of contracts.

How can stock contracts achieve 24/7 trading? How are pricing and risk control issues resolved?

KH: Supporting traditional assets like stocks with perpetual contracts presents two core challenges: first, the crypto market naturally operates 24/7, so how to enable traditional assets to achieve continuous trading within this system; second, stocks themselves have complex mechanisms such as stock splits and dividends, which need to be adapted at the contract and system levels.

In terms of continuous trading, the reality is that traditional stock markets primarily operate on a 5/24 basis, and overnight liquidity is not sufficient, with truly active trading times being shorter. Therefore, we have differentiated between trading and non-trading periods in our mechanisms. For example, when there is no spot market or index price over the weekend, we need to introduce a set of on-exchange pricing logic to support trading.

Users are most concerned about whether the pricing is reasonable and fair. To address this, we will set price fluctuation limits based on Friday's closing price for non-trading periods; during the reopening phase, we will also use risk pre-processing mechanisms to reduce the risks of gaps or abnormal volatility. Overall, stock-related TradFi targets have relatively controllable volatility under normal circumstances.

From a longer-term perspective, as trading gradually becomes more active, the market itself may also form effective pricing. There is even a possibility that during weekends or other periods when traditional markets are absent, crypto platforms may have the opportunity to establish a reference pricing market first, which could be a promising new opportunity for the entire industry.

Why was Bitget able to quickly capture the market in the early stages of RWA? What factors played a decisive role?

KH: Looking back at this experience, we believe there are two key aspects. The first is the timing of entry and foundational capabilities. At that time, we were one of the earliest CEXs to integrate Ondo and already had relatively mature on-chain trading infrastructure capabilities. Since Ondo's liquidity is provided through 1inch, this matched our on-chain trading architecture very well, allowing the product to be smoothly implemented. After completing the early integration, users could directly trade over 200 stock token RWA assets through Bitget's spot account in a one-stop manner. We also continuously optimized the experience, such as implementing a long-term zero-fee strategy, maintaining an order execution success rate above 99%, and effectively transmitting traditional market liquidity and price depth to on-chain through Ondo's mechanisms, which is an important foundation for users to stay.

The second factor is the market cycle and the overlay effect of user profits. The product was launched around Q3 of last year, when the largest positions on the platform came from silver-related ETFs, with prices around $30, which then surged to nearly $110. At that stage, the market lacked convenient crypto trading tools for silver, and we provided a suitable entry point, allowing users to capture this market trend and creating a significant wealth effect.

Additionally, with Google launching Gemini, many users began to favor Google and AI-related sectors, actively allocating stock-related RWA tokens, further enriching the trading scenarios for RWA. The combination of foundational capabilities, timing of entry, and real user profits ultimately facilitated sustained trading and retention of users on Bitget, and by December last year, we captured nearly 90% of the trading share in the Ondo market.

What key capabilities are still needed for UEX to be truly established?

KH: Asset integration is just the first step. We have completed the integration of CEX and DEX, as well as the integration of crypto and TradFi, but this is more at the level of "assets being tradable." What UEX truly needs to solve is to integrate these capabilities within the account system, enabling users to trade global mainstream assets with a single account.

For professional traders, the core demands lie in capital utilization rates and more refined margin and risk management capabilities. There is still significant room for optimization in this area. For example, some stock-related RWA tokens have not yet been incorporated into the unified account system and have not fully entered the unified margin logic, so they cannot temporarily participate in Bitget's existing financial products like wealth management, staking, or lending.

These capabilities are key links that need to be gradually connected in the future. Only when assets can not only be traded but also efficiently utilized under a unified account and participate in margin calculations, risk management, and capital reuse will users truly feel the value of "comprehensive integration." From asset integration to capital efficiency, and then to the unification of risk and margin systems, the improvement of this entire set of capabilities is what UEX will need time to complete in the larger-scale implementation process.

In the era of stock competition, what is Bitget's core competitiveness?

KH: Expanding into TradFi and other asset categories is precisely aimed at breaking out of the constraints of stock competition. When users have the ability to allocate across assets on one platform, they can quickly switch to other assets when a certain asset performs poorly.

Of course, UEX is a major trend, and we also observe that other exchanges are iterating in this direction. In competition, brand and customer service are certainly important, but the underlying competitiveness still comes from the foundational capabilities accumulated by CEX over the years. This includes high-performance trading systems, mature risk control and clearing systems, global localized operations, and user service capabilities, especially in terms of capital security and system stability during extreme market conditions. These capabilities require long-term investment and cannot be replicated in a short time.

The second core aspect is product capability. Compared to platforms that focus on single products, comprehensive platforms like Bitget have greater space for product integration and continuous iteration. For example, we have long been optimistic about the combination of trading and AI and have been continuously investing in this direction. From early trading assistance and information retrieval to future more automated and intelligent trading forms, AI has the opportunity to reshape the overall trading experience, which is also a long-term advantage we hope to gradually establish.

The third aspect is compliance capability, which is a longer-term but very critical competitive point. This year, compliance itself is one of our core strategies, and we are continuously promoting cooperation and licensing progress with major global regulatory bodies. From a longer-term perspective, compliance capability will become an important moat determining whether the platform can sustain its development.

Overall, Bitget's competitiveness does not stem from a single factor but from the combination of platform infrastructure, product integration and innovation capabilities, continuous investment in new technologies like AI, and systematic compliance construction, which together form our core advantages.

In the coming years, will exchanges and traditional brokers move towards competition or cooperation?

KH: The current backdrop is one of mutual integration, where every platform will become a UEX. On one hand, crypto trading platforms are advancing TradFi assets; on the other hand, more and more traditional brokers are beginning to support crypto and stablecoins. I prefer to view this as a positive signal because the starting points, capability structures, and advantages of both sides are different.

Our core advantage lies in being crypto native. The technical capabilities of blockchain and crypto, trading systems, and cognitive approaches are inherent to the platform's DNA. To date, crypto has demonstrated clear advantages over traditional financial systems in high-performance trading, convenient settlement, and the programmability and composability of tokens, and this generational difference will persist in the long term.

On the product level, we also tend to be user-oriented and will more aggressively refine the experience. The more intense the competition, the more platforms need to excel to truly retain users. From this perspective, high-intensity competition is not a bad thing; rather, it will drive the overall evolution of the industry and push for improvements in user experience.

At the same time, cooperation with traditional brokers is also an unavoidable phase. Traditional institutions have deep accumulations in liquidity channels, product mechanisms, and fundamental research, all of which we need to learn from and draw on. Compared to the crypto world, which relies more on community and social media for information structures, traditional finance has a completely different set of methods for research and information systems.

In summary, the next few years are more likely to present a state of "coexistence of competition and cooperation," rather than a simple replacement or opposition relationship.