Conversation with Bitget Product Lead: In the Era of Stock Competition, What is the UEX Bitget Aims to Build?

In this exclusive interview, we spoke with KH, Head of Product at Bitget, about the exchange's strategic layout and product evolution in the traditional finance (TradFi) asset direction over the past year.

As user demand expands from single crypto assets to broader asset allocation, and with the gradual maturation of RWA and on-chain trading infrastructure, crypto exchanges now possess the practical conditions to incorporate traditional assets like stocks, forex, precious metals, and commodities onto their platforms. Bitget has successively launched on-chain trading capabilities, stock perpetual contracts, and, through a partnership with MT5, introduced Contracts for Difference (CFD) products, forming a multi-layered UEX covering spot, derivatives, and RWA.

In terms of execution, Bitget entered the RWA track by partnering with Ondo. Leveraging its on-chain trading capabilities and 1inch's liquidity, it enabled convenient trading of over 200 types of RWA tokens, gaining significant market share early on. Meanwhile, its CFD products, featuring stablecoin settlement, liquidity from top-tier market makers, and a 7×24 trading experience, demonstrate differentiated advantages compared to traditional brokerages.

The interview also elaborated on Bitget's long-term vision for a Universal Exchange (UEX): centered around a unified account, it integrates CEX, DEX, and TradFi to achieve cross-asset trading, margin reuse, and higher capital efficiency. Overall, Bitget views compliance capabilities, underlying infrastructure, product integration capabilities, and AI + Trading as key future competitive pivots, aiming to build the next-generation comprehensive trading platform amidst the ongoing trend of crypto and traditional finance convergence.

The guest's statements do not represent WuBlockchain's views 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 phase, with solutions like RWA gradually maturing. Second, user demand for assets has expanded from solely CEX-based crypto assets to include DEX and TradFi assets, which is a natural evolution in user demand structure. For CEXs, introducing a richer variety of asset classes also helps smooth out the strong bull-bear cycle volatility inherent to Crypto, offering users more diverse and flexible asset allocation choices.

In terms of product timeline, we've spent about a year steadily advancing this product line. It started with on-chain trading-related products, followed by the relatively early launch of stock token perpetual contracts. In Q4 last year, we introduced CFD products, which were fully opened to users in January this year. Overall, it's been a step-by-step process.

The execution process wasn't without challenges. For instance, with the on-chain trading product, we were early in achieving seamless trading of the full spectrum of on-chain assets within the CEX account system, integrating the DEX trading experience. Then in Q3 last year, we were among the first to integrate RWA tokens issued by Ondo, bridging over 200 RWA assets through our on-chain trading capabilities, which opened a new breakthrough for the on-chain product. These capabilities weren't fully planned from the start; they evolved and improved based on market changes and user feedback. Looking back, it's precisely this product iteration pace aligned with the market that allowed us to continuously find new opportunities and gains amidst challenges.

Why did TradFi products only start being widely launched in recent years? What role did compliance barriers play?

KH: Based on our own experience, the core reason TradFi products only began to be widely implemented around 2025 is the increased maturity of the entire industry chain, not just the unilateral willingness of exchanges. Take on-chain trading and Ondo's RWA as examples. As an issuer, Ondo has resolved many key issues regarding underlying asset compliance, token issuance, and regulatory structure, enabling exchanges to participate within a compliant framework. This is the result of a gradually clearer division of labor within the industry chain.

Another example is 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 apply for and obtain the necessary licenses under compliance requirements and complete deep integration with MT5. This entire process spanned almost the whole of last year, making it clear that both the capabilities of exchanges themselves and their collaboration with traditional financial technology service providers are rapidly improving. If we were in 2021 or 2022, many institutions lacked sufficient compliance awareness, execution capability, and resource investment to truly implement these things.

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

KH: The upgrade in February is essentially a systematic restructuring of our TradFi product line, not just adding new products. We've consolidated CFD contracts, listed perpetual contracts, and RWA-related tokens under the overarching TradFi asset framework for organization and presentation.

This step was built upon over a year of continuous development and iteration. At this stage, we believe the TradFi products have formed a relatively complete basic framework. Whether it's spot-form tokens or different types of derivatives, the trading capabilities, depth, and completeness are quite mature.

We've also noticed that many exchanges are launching TradFi-related products, but the definition and usage of the term "TradFi" are unclear, potentially leading to user misunderstanding. So, 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 broad category of assets, and we want to define and guide users more accurately.

On the other hand, in terms of overall coverage, among all major exchanges, our TradFi product line is relatively more systematic and comprehensive. Therefore, now is an appropriate time to clearly communicate a change to users: Bitget has been iterating its products along the UEX strategy; the platform is no longer just "an app for trading Crypto" but a unified trading system that genuinely integrates Crypto and traditional financial assets.

Internally, we call this version the "Super Version," signifying the trading platform has entered its next phase. With this update, users opening the app will intuitively feel this change—TradFi is no longer a sub-menu under a secondary or tertiary tab but has a top-level entry alongside Crypto, representing millions of new monthly exposures for TradFi products. We are likely among the first major exchanges to take this step.

Upon entering the TradFi Hub, users can find spot, perpetual contracts, and CFDs related to TradFi assets, all in one place. Similar to how Alibaba placed the food delivery entry in the most prominent spot within the Taobao app during the food delivery wars to signal its commitment, this update adjustment also communicates the strategic importance of the TradFi business internally and our confidence in being fully prepared at the product level. For users, it's also an "invitation" to encourage them to diversify their portfolios and allocate global assets through a UEX like Bitget.

What is the relationship between UEX and TradFi? How far has this strategy progressed?

KH: UEX is a long-term direction we proposed in the second half of last year, envisioning the "next version" of an exchange. We believe not only centralized or decentralized crypto exchanges but also traditional brokerages are moving towards UEX. The core feature of UEX is enabling users to trade global mainstream assets—including both Crypto and TradFi, even extending to DEX assets—on a single platform through a unified account and stablecoin settlement.

This concept was initially relatively abstract but is becoming concrete as foundational capabilities improve. Last year, through our on-chain trading product, we achieved the integration of CEX and DEX within the Crypto ecosystem. Now, with the TradFi product line maturing, the integration of Crypto and TradFi has also materialized into a product form users can genuinely experience. UEX is no longer just a concept but exists in the practical experience of "one platform, one account, trading multiple asset classes."

From a strategic cycle perspective, UEX is not a short-term goal for 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 metrics.

Market feedback has generally exceeded expectations. Trading volume for stock contracts launched during Q3 and Q4 continued to grow, exceeding $15 billion in single-quarter volume; monthly trading volume for Ondo-related RWA tokens surpassed $1 billion, with Bitget once capturing nearly 90% of the trading share for Ondo RWA assets; the TradFi CFD contracts launched in January this year also saw average daily trading volume exceed $4 billion, driven by precious metals market activity. These figures validate the direction's correctness. However, even so, our current core objective remains continuously refining underlying capabilities and the overall experience, laying a solid foundation for the long-term evolution of UEX.

What are the advantages of Bitget's CFD contracts compared to traditional brokerages? How do you decide on asset expansion strategies?

KH: The traditional CFD market itself is already very mature. Our core advantage here is not simply "rebuilding it" but achieving deep integration under compliance. We spent considerable time preparing licenses and directly integrating with MT5. MT5 is one of the world's most mainstream multi-asset CFD trading platforms, providing us with stable, mature underlying trading capabilities.

The second clear advantage is the settlement method. Compared to traditional forex brokers, we support settlement using stablecoins like USDT—a natural advantage evolving from CEX that significantly lowers barriers to fund entry and exit. We will gradually support more settlement currencies.

The third lies in the trading experience, particularly liquidity and spreads. Our current spread levels are already comparable to top-tier standards in the CFD industry and surpass other exchange peers also integrated with MT5. Simultaneously, Bitget's long-accumulated capabilities within the CEX system—including localized operations, 7×24 customer service, mature risk control and fund security systems, and continuous product iteration capabilities (market data, news, AI assistance, etc.)—collectively form a comprehensive advantage in user trust and experience.

In asset selection, we lean towards pragmatism. Currently, about 80% of trading volume is concentrated in precious metals like gold and silver, and core stock indices. Therefore, the current focus is covering these mainstream varieties, including precious metals, forex, stock indices, and some commodities. For mid-to-long-tail assets like global stocks, user demand exists, but compliance and execution challenges are greater, and actual trading volume is relatively limited. So our strategy is to prioritize top assets first, then gradually evaluate expanding to more categories while ensuring compliance and product quality.

Where does TradFi trading volume mainly come from? Crypto users or new users?

KH: Currently, both types of users exist and jointly drive growth. The first category is "overlapping users." Taking CFDs as an example, MT5 itself has a vast user base, a significant portion of which highly overlaps with the Crypto market. These users already trade on different platforms. When they discover they can trade both TradFi and Crypto on a single platform using stablecoin settlement, the conversion cost is very low, requiring no additional user education. They are the easiest to convert.

The second category leans towards traditional traders. Compared to many small and medium-sized forex brokers, Bitget holds advantages in platform scale, financial strength, product experience, and security, making it easier to build trust. These users value platform stability and reliability more, but their conversion takes longer, relying on continuous product refinement and market operations. They are still in the gradual onboarding phase.

Additionally, some volume comes from Bitget's existing user base. When markets for gold, silver, and other precious metals are active, these users often pick up quickly and naturally try TradFi-related products. So at this stage, a clear structure is visible: there are users overlapping between MT5 and the Crypto market, existing platform users participating in TradFi trading stimulated by market conditions, and these groups collectively constitute the main sources of trading volume.

What are the real challenges CFDs face during high-volatility market conditions?

KH: High volatility presents both opportunities and challenges. The CFD market itself is very mature, with daily trading volumes reaching trillions of dollars. The core lies in having a stable, reliable liquidity system. Therefore, in product design, we chose deep integration with MT5 from the start and partnered with top-tier market makers in the industry for liquidity, ensuring sufficient depth and stability during both normal and extreme market conditions.

In terms of actual results, our current spread levels and liquidity performance during high-volatility environments are already comparable to top-tier standards in the CFD industry, which is the foundational capability we aimed to achieve.

However, the real challenge is not just "connecting" the CFD product. If it's merely an entry-level, physical integration—simply embedding a page into the app—it might be quick to implement, but the experience would be very fragmented. We place greater importance on understanding the characteristics of CFD products and absorbing proven experiences from mature markets.

The bigger difficulty lies in experiential integration. Crypto users and traditional traders differ significantly in trading habits, usage paths, and focus areas. How to provide a consistent, user-friendly cross-asset trading experience while accommodating both needs is a long-term endeavor. This "inclusive" experience design is the core direction we continuously invest in and refine, beyond just handling high-volatility markets.

Why does Bitget offer both perpetual contracts and CFD contracts for the same asset, like gold?

KH> Choosing the same underlying asset, gold, is because it is inherently highly active and caters to two completely different user needs, thus requiring different product forms to serve them.

The first category 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 share. 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 introduce this mature, stable product capability to the Bitget platform.

The second category includes gold and silver token perpetual contracts (represented by XAU, XAG) and the nearly 40 stock token perpetual contracts already listed. These products are most familiar to Crypto users because their account systems, margin models, and trading experiences are almost identical to digital currency trading. Users can trade using a unified account, cross or isolated margin, and some popular assets support higher leverage, which feels very natural and seamless for Crypto users.

In terms of positioning, the two contract types serve different groups. Perpetual contracts allow Crypto users to directly expand into traditional assets like gold or stocks within a familiar trading framework. Simultaneously, as this is an endogenous market, users can build cross-asset strategies under a unified account, such as holding both Bitcoin and stock positions, or even using crypto assets as collateral for traditional asset trading. This flexibility is the core reason for the parallel existence of both contract types.

How do stock contracts achieve 7×24 trading? How are pricing and risk control issues addressed?

KH: Using perpetual contracts to support traditional assets like stocks presents two core challenges: first, the Crypto market naturally operates 7×24, so how to enable continuous trading for traditional assets within this system; second, stocks themselves have complex mechanisms like stock splits and dividends that require adaptation at the contract and system levels.

For continuous trading, the reality is that traditional stock markets primarily operate 5×24, with insufficient overnight liquidity, and truly active trading hours are even shorter. Therefore, our mechanism distinguishes between trading and non-trading hours. For example, on weekends when there is no spot market or index price, we need to introduce an on-platform pricing logic to support trading.

What users care most about is whether pricing is reasonable and fair. To address this, we use Friday's closing price as a benchmark and set range limits for price fluctuations during non-trading hours. During the re-opening phase, we also employ risk pre-processing mechanisms to reduce the risk of liquidation gaps or abnormal volatility caused by price gaps. Overall, stock-type TradFi assets have relatively controllable volatility under normal circumstances.

From a longer-term perspective, as trading gradually becomes more active, the market itself may form effective pricing. There's even a possibility that during periods when traditional markets are absent, like weekends, Crypto platforms could take the lead in forming a reference pricing market, which might be a promising new opportunity for the entire industry.

Why was Bitget able to quickly capture the market in the early stages of RWA? Which factors were decisive?

KH: Looking back, we believe two key aspects were crucial. First, timing and foundational capabilities. We were among the earliest CEXs to integrate with Ondo and already possessed relatively mature on-chain trading infrastructure capabilities. Since Ondo's liquidity is provided through 1inch, which highly aligns with our on-chain trading architecture, the product could be implemented very smoothly. After the initial integration, users could directly trade over 200 stock token-type RWA assets through Bitget's spot account in a one-stop manner. We also continuously optimized the experience, such as long-term zero-fee policies, maintaining order fill success rates above 99%, and effectively transmitting traditional market liquidity and price depth on-chain through Ondo's mechanism. This formed an important foundation for user retention.

The second factor was the combined effect of market cycles and user gains. The product launched around Q3 last year. At that time, the largest holdings on the platform were related to silver ETFs, priced around $30, which later rose to nearly $110. During that phase, the market lacked convenient Crypto trading tools for silver, and we provided a suitable entry point. Users genuinely captured this market trend, creating significant wealth effects.

Furthermore, with Google launching Gemini, many users became bullish on Google and AI-related sectors, actively allocating to stock-related RWA tokens, further enriching RWA trading scenarios. The combination of infrastructure capabilities, timing, and real user gains ultimately led to sustained trading and user retention on Bitget. In December last year, we captured nearly 90% of the trading share in the Ondo market.

What key capabilities are still missing for UEX to truly materialize?

KH: Asset integration is just the first step. We've achieved the integration of CEX and DEX, as well as Crypto and TradFi, but this mostly stays at the "assets are tradable" level. What UEX truly needs to solve is integrating these capabilities