Interview with Bitget CEO: rToken has reached over 100 million AUM in one month, what’s next?

Author: Wu Says Blockchain

After the AUM of US Stock Token rToken Surpasses $100 Million, What Should We Focus on in the Next Stage?

Gracy: The US stock token rToken was launched in early June, and within about a month, its AUM surpassed $100 million. As of July 6, the AUM reached $114 million, with a cumulative trading volume of $670 million, growing faster than we expected and validating the real demand from crypto users for traditional financial assets like US stocks.

This demand is reflected not only in the size of holdings but also in trading activity. During weekends when the situation in the Middle East changed and US stocks were closed, the trading volume of rToken reached ten times that of the previous week, growing about 2.2 times compared to the average level in June weekends. We see that more and more users are starting to use rToken as a tool for allocating global assets during market volatility, rather than just for long-term holding. Although the absolute trading volume of US stock tokens on weekends is still in its early stages, the importance of 24/7 trading has been highlighted during market fluctuations.

However, surpassing $100 million in AUM at least verifies that users are indeed willing to trade such assets. But for us, this is just the first step. The next more important aspect is what practical uses we can provide for users after the assets are launched. After proposing the concept of the Universal Exchange (UEX) last September, we have gradually covered US stocks, foreign exchange, commodities, and Pre-IPO products. Now, most core asset categories are in place, and we believe that simply increasing the number of assets in the future will be difficult to create long-term differentiation.

The focus of the next stage is to truly integrate different assets into a unified account to improve capital efficiency. For example, rToken can serve as unified collateral, allowing different assets to share funds and support cross-asset strategies, lending, APIs, and quantitative trading. In terms of unified accounts and institutional products, Bitget is indeed one to two years behind some leading platforms. What needs to be supplemented now is not just an account function, but to establish complete product capabilities around professional traders and institutional users. Institutions are more concerned about whether they can manage stocks and crypto assets in the same account, share collateral, and efficiently allocate funds between different markets. The next stage requires users to have not just a "unified account," but a "cross-asset unified account," which is also a key direction for our development. The indicators we will focus on will not only be AUM and trading volume, but also trading friction, capital utilization, and cross-product experience.

Will There Be Consideration to Launch Korean, Japanese, Hong Kong, and A Shares in the Future?

Gracy: There is indeed user demand, but we will be more cautious about stock markets outside the US at this stage. The core reason is regulation and product feasibility. Currently, the platform has covered 10 Hong Kong stock-related targets through perpetual contracts, including AI concept stocks like Zhizhu AI, but this does not mean that we have established complete Hong Kong stock spot or tokenized stock products.

Outside the US, most regions have not yet formed a sufficiently clear and mature regulatory framework for RWA and stock tokenization. At the same time, global stock market value and liquidity are still highly concentrated in US stocks, making the US market more suitable for prioritizing asset supply, institutional participation, and liquidity. The regulatory sensitivity of A shares and Hong Kong stocks is particularly high. Regulatory agencies typically do not want local stocks to be traded overseas or on crypto platforms after being repackaged, as this involves investor protection, market regulation, and cross-border capital flow.

Therefore, whether to launch stocks from other countries and regions depends not only on whether there is user demand but also on whether local regulations are clear and whether the platform can find compliant product structures. For example, many users leave comments in my Twitter section hoping the platform will launch a certain stock. However, user "ordering" does not mean the "chef" can immediately provide it. We will certainly consider these demands, but ultimately, we must take into account regulation, product feasibility, and market maturity.

The Three Main Types of Users of US Stock Token rToken and What They Are Trading

Cat Brother: The AUM of rToken has already surpassed $100 million. What types of users are currently using it? What are the differences in the needs of different users?

Gracy: Currently, we can roughly divide users into three categories: crypto-native users, cross-asset traders, and institutional and professional traders.

The first category is crypto-native users. They originally hold stablecoins like USDT and USDC, are accustomed to using crypto platforms, and want direct exposure to US stock prices without having to open new accounts, withdraw and deposit fiat, or transfer across platforms. These users are most concerned about trading time, liquidity, slippage, and whether corporate actions can be accurately processed. Whether the assets are "on-chain" is not the most important; the key is whether they are truly tradable.

The second category is cross-asset traders. They hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, US stocks, and ETFs simultaneously and want to reduce account switching while managing various assets within the same capital system. These users are more concerned about the stability of the connection between tokenized assets and the real securities market, including whether quotes can closely follow the underlying stocks, whether order execution is close to traditional brokers, and whether prices will significantly deviate during extreme market conditions.

The third category is institutional and professional traders. They are not concerned about manually buying and selling individual stocks but whether rToken can connect to existing APIs, quantitative trading, and risk management systems, and be used for unified collateral, lending, and cross-asset hedging. For example, an institution may want to hold both rToken and crypto contracts simultaneously and allow different positions to share collateral. At this point, interface stability, trading latency, liquidation rules, and liquidity management are more important than the number of covered assets.

All three types of users will pay attention to price, liquidity, and trading experience, but their focus differs: crypto-native users value the convenience of stablecoins and crypto accounts; cross-asset traders value execution quality close to traditional brokers; institutions focus more on APIs, collateral, lending, and risk control.

How Should Ordinary Users Understand US Stock Token rToken? How Does It Differ from Other Stock Tokenization Products?

Gracy: rToken is a tokenized asset issued by Reality, a licensed RWA protocol launched by Bitget, currently supporting over 500 mainstream US stocks and ETFs, and may extend to other asset types in the future. Compared to other stock tokenization products on the market, we have made improvements mainly in liquidity, dividend distribution, and capital efficiency.

Bitget began supporting US stock tokens issued by other RWA issuers as early as last fall. We found that the most frequently reported issue by users in the past was liquidity; typically, orders of a few hundred dollars can have controllable slippage, but larger orders may not be completed or may have excessive slippage. Therefore, rToken was planned from the beginning to introduce liquidity from Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange. As far as we know, there are still relatively few platforms that can achieve this. We have conducted some comparisons internally, and in terms of order depth, rToken is 50-100 times ahead of similar products, as it is difficult to find markets with stronger liquidity than Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.

Another frequently reported user issue is regarding dividends, distributions, stock splits, and other corporate actions. In this regard, rToken is closer to the presentation style of traditional brokers. If the underlying stock pays cash dividends, users will receive net dividends settled in USDT; if it is a stock dividend or stock split, the number and cost of rToken held by users will be adjusted accordingly.

Some other tokenized stock products may keep cash dividends in the underlying asset pool and reflect them in the token's net value through reinvestment or buybacks. This model may not necessarily reduce users' economic returns but could lead to the token price gradually deviating from the stock price shown by traditional market software. For example, if a stock is priced at $200 and generates a $2 cash dividend per share, rToken will handle the stock position and cash earnings separately, allowing users to continue holding the corresponding asset while receiving USDT equivalent to $2. Another type of product may continue to count this $2 in the asset pool, increasing the token's net value.

The economic results of different models may be similar, but the user experience differs. rToken emphasizes keeping the price, holdings, and earnings structure as consistent as possible with traditional securities accounts to reduce the understanding cost for ordinary users. Therefore, we still hope to maintain consistency with traditional brokers as much as possible. The difference between rToken and other products lies not only in whether the underlying assets have real asset support but also in how corporate actions like dividends, stock splits, and consolidations are presented.

Additionally, because Reality collaborates deeply with the Bitget platform, we can integrate rToken into various ecosystems of the Bitget exchange, such as using rToken as collateral in a cross-asset unified account, allowing users to buy Nvidia stock without selling it and still use it as collateral to open BTC contracts. We have also seen some strategies, such as using Bitget's lending feature to lend out Apple stock tokens. If the dividends can cover the borrowing costs, it theoretically creates some arbitrage space. Endowing stock tokens with the flexibility and utility of crypto assets will open up more possibilities for users' operations and significantly improve capital efficiency. These are also things that many other US stock tokens currently find difficult to achieve.

Is US Stock Token rToken Currently Primarily Used as Contract Collateral by Institutions and Professional Traders?

Gracy: This question should start with our cross-asset unified account. Simply put, it allows one rToken to serve three purposes: earning interest, acting as collateral, and being used for lending.

For most ordinary users, the simplest is the first: earning interest. Buying and holding rToken allows users to gain exposure to the price of the corresponding US stocks and related rights, making the experience closer to buying the stocks themselves.

The latter two functions, acting as collateral and lending, are more advanced plays and are better suited for institutions and professional users with risk management capabilities.

For example, if you use rNVDA as collateral to open a BTC contract. Ideally, if Nvidia's price remains stable and the BTC direction is correct, it is equivalent to improving capital efficiency without selling the stock, thus earning additional income. However, if Nvidia declines while the contract incurs losses, the collateral shrinkage and position loss will occur simultaneously, and the risk of forced liquidation will arise more quickly.

Regarding collateral lending, users can use rToken as collateral to obtain stablecoin liquidity, with different assets having different limits and risk control requirements. For large-cap stocks like Apple, the individual user collateral limit is about $1.2 million, while for smaller stocks like SanDisk (SNDK), it may only be $80,000. The more niche, volatile, and less liquid the asset, the more cautious the limits typically are.

How Do US Stock Orders Ultimately Enter the Real Market?

Gracy: To achieve the liquidity of rToken directly connected to Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, we have established a technical link between the following three parties:

• Trading Platform: Bitget
• Issuer: Reality
• Partner Broker: Alpaca

For example, after a user submits a buy order for rToken, the order is sent to Alpaca, which then connects to the US securities market to complete the transaction. Subsequently, the underlying broker and clearing system complete the securities settlement, with the stocks held by a custodian; at the same time, the system generates rToken in the corresponding quantity and credits it to the user's account. Therefore, theoretically, every newly issued rToken corresponds to an equivalent quantity or value of underlying securities as support. What users see is a token, but it still relies on brokers, exchanges, clearing institutions, and custodial systems to complete real securities transactions.

The selling process is basically the opposite. After a user sells rToken, the corresponding token is canceled, the underlying service institution sells the corresponding stock, and after settlement, returns to the user's account in stablecoins or other supported settlement assets. Therefore, rToken does not operate independently of the traditional financial system but connects the front-end crypto accounts and tokens with the back-end traditional securities market. The user experience can be close to crypto spot trading, but the underlying still relies on real securities trading, clearing, and custodial systems.

How Does rToken Maintain Trading After US Stock Market Hours?

Cat Brother: rToken hopes to provide longer trading hours, but the US stock market itself is not open all the time. When the underlying market is closed, how does the platform maintain liquidity and price stability?

Gracy: Extending trading hours means that users are not entirely constrained by US stock market opening hours, and the market can respond to sudden events earlier. However, after the US stock market closes, the main source of liquidity for rToken will also temporarily disappear. Currently, trading during market closures is mainly handled by market makers. Partner market makers will stock up on inventory before the US stock market closes, and users trading rToken on weekends primarily rely on this inventory for matching.

However, this does not mean that the market depth during closures is the same as during normal trading hours. In the event of significant events, market makers need to assess risks without the main market price, which usually leads to reduced orders and widened bid-ask spreads. Although they can refer to overnight market quotes from sources like Blue Ocean for partial hedging, the liquidity in these markets is far lower than during normal trading hours and cannot fully replace the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

Therefore, prices during market closures reflect more the quotes formed by market makers based on their inventory and risk tolerance, rather than market prices after sufficient trading. Users need to accept risks such as decreased liquidity, increased slippage, and the possibility that transaction prices may deviate from the opening price of the next normal trading session. Longer trading hours address the question of "whether trading is possible," rather than "whether trading can always occur with normal market depth."

How Does rToken Price and Settle During Trading Halts, Circuit Breakers, or Major Events?

Gracy: First, we need to distinguish between two issues: how stock tokens are priced and whether the unified account will trigger liquidation. During US stock market closures, if users use rToken as collateral, the platform will use the index price at the end of the extended trading period of the last trading day for valuation to avoid the distortion of collateral value due to scattered transaction prices when the underlying market lacks continuous quotes. However, this is only a temporary freeze of the pricing benchmark and does not mean that risks disappear. If a significant event occurs over the weekend, stocks may still gap down significantly on the next trading day.

At the same time, other assets in the unified account will continue to fluctuate normally. For example, if a user holds a crypto contract using rToken as collateral, even if rToken is temporarily priced at the last trading day's price, as long as other positions cause the overall risk rate of the account to reach the liquidation line, forced liquidation will still be triggered. The unified account always conducts risk control based on the collateral, liabilities, and unrealized profits and losses of the entire account, rather than evaluating a single collateral item separately.

If the underlying stock is halted, circuit broken, or a significant event occurs that prevents reliable quotes from being obtained, the platform will take temporary risk control measures based on the nature of the event, halt time, and market liquidity, such as adjusting collateral rates, limiting new collateral, restricting trading, or suspending related products, rather than applying fixed rules. For example, if there is a long-term halt and the risk clearly increases, the platform may lower the collateral value in advance; if it is just a short-term circuit breaker, it usually waits for the underlying market to resume trading before updating prices. Therefore, halts or market closures do not mean that risks pause. Thus, when using rToken as collateral, users need to pay attention to price fluctuations, gaps, halts, decreased liquidity, and the platform's adjustments to risk control parameters.

Why Is the Reserve Ratio of Stock Assets Exactly 100%? Can rToken Be Redeemed for Underlying Stocks?

Cat Brother: Reality has announced that the stock asset reserve ratio is basically maintained at 100%. Why is it not like cryptocurrencies, where a certain proportion of excess reserves is retained?

Gracy: The stock asset portion adopts a one-to-one matching structure. For every rToken issued by Reality, Alpaca holds the corresponding quantity or value of stocks, and currently, there is no additional stock inventory purchased beyond the demand for token issuance.

Therefore, as long as the token supply corresponds completely to the underlying holdings, the reserve ratio is naturally 100%. To make this ratio exceed 100%, Bitget, Reality, or other participants would need to invest additional funds to purchase stocks that do not correspond to existing user holdings. In our view, the necessity of doing this at this stage is not high.

At the same time, rToken is currently the only RWA asset on the market that can provide daily third-party PoR audit results. Other RWA issuers may disclose reserves, but more often take a self-reported form, which may carry the risk of "being both the referee and the athlete." Reality currently collaborates with the US auditing firm The Network Film to provide daily PoR data. The Network Film is a familiar name in the crypto industry, as compliant exchanges like Kraken and Gemini have partnered with them for asset audits.

Cat Brother: Stock investors sometimes plan to hold for ten years or even longer. For users who hold rToken long-term, what exit options are currently available? Can they redeem for underlying stocks or transfer assets to other brokers?

Gracy: Currently, the main exit option for rToken is still to sell it on the market and exchange it for USDT. As for whether rToken can be directly redeemed for underlying stocks in the future, or whether stocks can be transferred to other brokers like traditional securities accounts, there is currently no definitive plan.

Returning from rToken to UEX: Why Are Exchanges Starting to Compete for Cross-Asset Entry?

Cat Brother: If we view rToken not just as a standalone product but as part of Bitget's overall strategy, what does it signify?

Gracy: From a broader perspective, rToken is not just a US stock product; it is also validating whether the UEX route can be established. Current data at least indicates that trading traditional financial assets through crypto platforms is not a demand created by the platform. Many users are genuinely concerned not about "stock tokenization," but about whether they can trade globally recognized assets more conveniently.

From the current data, this demand is also quite concentrated. About 23.51% of rToken's TVL comes from SpaceX; Nvidia, Micron, and other AI industry chain assets account for about 45% combined. If we further include SpaceX, growth-type assets like AI and technology infrastructure account for over 70%. We see that when the crypto market lacks new high-growth targets, some funds naturally shift towards assets like AI, semiconductors, and commercial aerospace. Therefore, exchanges expanding their US stock business is not just about increasing trading varieties but responding to users' needs for cross-asset allocation.

Bitget has accumulated capabilities in trading systems, liquidity management, and risk control in the past, and now needs to validate whether these capabilities can be transferred to larger markets like stocks, ETFs, foreign exchange, and commodities. However, traditional finance has a mature system of brokers, clearing, custody, and regulation. For us, the ongoing challenge is not just to put assets into an app but to handle issues like taxation, corporate actions, asset segregation, and cross-border compliance over the long term.

This is also why we value UEX. It is not merely about telling a growth story but answering what value exchanges can provide in the next stage. If the business remains focused solely on crypto assets, platforms will ultimately only compete on transaction fees and listing speeds. Cross-asset platforms offer another possibility, allowing users to manage different assets within the same account without constantly migrating funds as market conditions change. However, asset coverage is just the first step. The real challenge is to connect unified accounts, cross-asset collateral, lending, yield products, and APIs, allowing different assets to truly share funds and trading capabilities. For us, whether UEX can truly be established ultimately depends on whether these underlying capabilities can be executed well.

I do not believe Bitget has already become a leader. Launching US stock products earlier and covering more does not mean that a long-term advantage has been established. The product launch is just the first step. What we need to look at next is whether users are willing to use it long-term, whether institutions continue to expand trading scale, and whether the product can withstand extreme market conditions and regulatory changes.