HTX Research latest research report interpretation: When cryptocurrency trading infrastructure begins to support US stocks

Recently, HTX Research, the research department under Huobi HTX, released the latest research report titled "On-Chain US Stock Asset Research: From Crypto Perpetual Contracts to the Migration of Pricing Power", systematically analyzing the background of the rise of on-chain US stock perpetual contracts, the sources of PMF (Product-Market Fit), and the structural changes in US stock pricing power that result from this, focusing on the evolution direction of crypto trading infrastructure.

HTX Research believes that the next round of structural opportunities in the crypto market may no longer come from a new token narrative, but from the transformation of the objects that trading infrastructure carries. When on-chain tools are mature enough, and high-quality crypto-native assets are relatively scarce, market attention begins to shift towards assets that truly possess fundamentals and event density. US stocks, especially AI-related US stocks, are becoming the most direct recipients of this shift.

Structural Contradictions in the Crypto Market: High-Efficiency Infrastructure, Low-Quality Trading Targets

In the past few years, mechanisms such as perpetual contracts, stablecoin margins, automatic liquidation, funding rates, and incentive points have lowered the participation threshold in financial markets to a historical low. However, as infrastructure matures, the availability of high-quality tradable assets has become increasingly scarce. Many altcoins, meme coins, and narrative coins are essentially attention assets rather than cash flow assets, and the market is growing weary of "trading for the sake of trading," turning instead to seek assets with real fundamental elasticity.

US stocks happen to fill this gap. Data from SIFMA in the first quarter of 2026 shows that the total market capitalization of US-listed companies is approximately $66 trillion, far exceeding the entire crypto market size; trading volumes for US stocks, ETFs, and options have all reached new highs during the same period. US stocks, especially AI stocks, not only have fundamentals but also possess extremely high event density, with earnings reports, orders, CapEx, export controls, model releases, and Pre-IPO roadshows, each of which can translate into on-chain trading opportunities.

PMF of On-Chain US Stock Perpetual Contracts: Serving a Group of People Poorly Served by Traditional Finance

Understanding the rise of on-chain US stock perpetual contracts hinges on distinguishing between "holding demand" and "trading demand." Tokenized stocks address the "holding" issue, while perpetual contracts address the "trading" issue; for crypto users, the latter's demand far exceeds the former. They may not necessarily want to become shareholders of Nvidia, but they want to trade NVDA volatility around earnings reports; they may not necessarily want to own shares of Cerebras, but they want to bet on the IPO opening price; they may not necessarily want to buy into OpenAI's private equity, but they want to trade OpenAI's valuation expectations.

The common characteristic of this group of users is: they are accustomed to 24-hour trading, leverage, stablecoin pricing, and real-time signal acquisition in communities like X, Telegram, and Discord. Traditional brokers find it difficult to serve this segment, and on-chain US stock perpetual contracts precisely fill this gap. Data from RWA.xyz shows that the total value of Tokenized Stocks is approximately $1.08 billion, with a monthly transfer volume of about $2.3 billion and around 190,000 holders: tokenized stocks have formed an early on-chain circulation market, while the "trading" layer based on these assets has even greater imaginative potential.

Pre-IPO Perp: The First Clear Demonstration of the Migration of Pricing Power

HTX Research conducted a focused analysis of the Cerebras IPO event. This star company in the AI computing track saw its on-chain Pre-IPO Perp price remain above traditional private secondary market quotes for several months and was quickly matched by the traditional market after going public. In certain asset categories, the crypto-native market may discover prices earlier and more accurately than the traditional private secondary market.

The reason lies in structural differences. The private secondary market has low trading frequency, concentrated participants, and information asymmetry, with pricing reflecting more the exit willingness of holders rather than market consensus; whereas Pre-IPO Perp absorbs real-time expectations from global crypto users through 24-hour continuous trading on-chain, making price signals closer to "market consensus."

What is truly being disrupted is the ownership of pricing power. In the traditional system, the pricing power of Pre-IPO assets is highly concentrated in investment banks, PE/VCs, and private secondary platforms like Hiive. When the on-chain market begins to absorb trading demand for the same asset in the form of perpetual contracts and demonstrates higher price discovery efficiency, pricing power starts to migrate to the crypto-native market, which is the core phenomenon referred to as "migration of pricing power" in this report.

AI US Stocks Main Line: Reinterpreting an Investment Line from a Crypto Perspective

AI is the strongest narrative in this round of US stocks. From GPU computing power, HBM memory, power infrastructure to AI data centers and model applications, the entire AI industry chain constitutes a pool of assets with extremely high event density, significant volatility, and high attention from global crypto users.

From a crypto perspective, the appeal of AI US stocks lies not only in their fundamentals but also in their structural resonance with crypto-native narratives: AI computing consumption, AI Agent economy, and AI × Crypto infrastructure are already daily topics for crypto users. When these users can trade AI US stocks using stablecoins, perpetual contracts, and crypto-native leverage, they are not accepting a new product but expressing their most familiar views with the tools they know best.

Therefore, the core of on-chain AI US stock products is not to replicate Robinhood or Interactive Brokers, but to repackage US stock assets into forms suitable for crypto user trading: all-weather, stablecoin priced, high leverage, shortable, combinable, and accessible to DeFi.

Conclusion: From Exchanges to Comprehensive Trading Infrastructure

The emergence of on-chain US stock perpetual contracts marks a transition of crypto trading infrastructure from "serving crypto-native assets" to "carrying a broader range of global assets," while crypto exchanges are evolving from mere matchmakers of single asset categories to a direction closer to comprehensive financial infrastructure.

As an early participant in this trend, Huobi HTX has been continuously laying out TradFi directions this year, expanding the TradFi perpetual contract section, and opening up interfaces for AI Agent trading capabilities through HTX AI Skills. These two types of actions can be seen as two evolutionary paths for crypto exchanges in the new phase: the former addresses the issue of "expanding tradable assets," while the latter addresses the issue of "upgrading trading interaction methods." The combination of both means that the boundaries between crypto exchanges and global capital markets are being redefined: crypto users are no longer passively waiting for traditional asset tokenization but are empowered to participate in the price discovery process of the most liquid global assets with their own tools, pace, and narratives.

About HTX Research

HTX Research is the exclusive research department under Huobi HTX, responsible for in-depth analysis across a wide range of fields including cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and emerging market trends, writing comprehensive reports, and providing professional assessments. HTX Research is committed to providing data-driven insights and strategic foresight, playing a key role in shaping industry perspectives and supporting informed decision-making in the digital asset space. With rigorous research methodologies and cutting-edge data analysis, HTX Research consistently stands at the forefront of innovation, leading the development of industry thought and promoting a deeper understanding of the ever-changing market dynamics. Visit us.

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