Why Are More and More Crypto Traders Turning to Gate Stock Tokens? An In-Depth Analysis for 2026

By 2026, a trend that cannot be ignored is accelerating in the crypto finance space: more and more crypto traders are shifting their focus from trading cryptocurrencies alone to trading stock tokens. Gate’s stock token section is becoming the most eye-catching hub in this wave. As of May 2026, the section’s cumulative trading volume has surpassed $140 billion, with nearly 100 trading pairs listed. At one point, its single-month market share reached as high as 89.1%. With these figures in mind, what driving force lies behind them?

An almost 29-fold market explosion that is rewriting asset allocation logic

The global tokenized stock market is seeing a historically unprecedented surge in growth. According to the latest report from Sentora and DL Research, as of January 2026, the total market value of tokenized stocks has climbed to approximately $963 million, a year-over-year increase of nearly 2,878% from just $32 million a year earlier. Additionally, according to CoinGecko’s RWA Report 2026, the total value locked (TVL) in tokenized real-world assets surpassed $31 billion in 2026, nearly quadrupling from the beginning of 2025.

This means crypto traders no longer need to be confined to price fluctuations of Bitcoin and Ethereum; instead, they can directly participate in traditional financial markets through stock tokens. As an industry pioneer, Gate’s stock token section had already surpassed $13.5 billion in cumulative trading volume as early as January 2026, becoming the world’s first crypto exchange to reach this level in stock token trading volume. Within just a few months, the figure jumped to $140 billion—its growth momentum is remarkable.

7×24 hours trading + T+0 settlement: breaking the time shackles of traditional finance

The traditional U.S. stock market offers only about a 6.5-hour daily trading window, with complete closure on weekends and public holidays. In January 2026, after Meta released its earnings report, its underlying stock saw violent fluctuations during the after-hours trading session. At that moment, it was 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time—when traditional brokers cannot trade—but on the Gate platform, users holding METAX stock tokens had already completed trading settlement.

Gate’s stock tokens run on blockchain’s underlying network, enabling truly continuous 7×24 hours trading. When U.S. stock markets are closed, market makers take into account quotes from Frankfurt and other trading venues still operating in the market, trends in Nasdaq 100 index futures, and overall market supply-and-demand sentiment, providing continuous two-way quotes for stock tokens. In April 2026, the number of holders of Tesla stock token TSLAX on the Gate platform exceeded 20,000, with total assets valued at approximately $78 million; the minimum price to buy fractional shares was just $10.

As for settlement, even though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has shortened the settlement cycle for traditional stocks to T+1, it still depends on the working hours of clearinghouses and banks. Gate’s stock tokens achieve T+0 instant settlement through blockchain: when selling stock tokens, USDT is credited to the account immediately, and ownership transfers on-chain in real time. Trading, clearing, and settlement—three layers—are compressed into one, achieving unprecedented instant-level capital efficiency.

Trade U.S. stocks directly with USDT: breaking the fiat-currency capital wall

One of crypto traders’ deepest pain points is the complexity of capital channels. Converting crypto assets into fiat, transferring them to overseas bank accounts, and then transferring them to brokerage accounts—this process is time-consuming, and it also involves exchange-rate losses and compliance frictions. Gate’s stock tokens completely solve this problem: all stock tokens are priced and settled in USDT. Whether it’s Tesla, Apple, or Amazon, users can complete trades without going through any fiat deposits or withdrawals. The profits earned during a crypto bull market can be used directly to buy U.S. stock assets—one account, one set of passwords, one capital pool—connecting the crypto world’s capital channels with mainstream financial markets.

Low-threshold fractionalized investing: from thousands of dollars per share to investing from $10

For small and medium investors, a single share of Nvidia or Tesla can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, creating an insurmountable capital barrier. With Gate stock tokens, the minimum is just $10 to buy fractional shares, truly democratizing global asset allocation. As of now, the Gate xStocks section has launched more than 60 tokenized stocks, covering a broad range from “the tech seven” to popular ETFs.

As of April 2026, Gate’s contract stock section has launched perpetual contracts for major underlying assets including RTX (Raytheon), GD (General Dynamics), NOC (Northrop Grumman), BA (Boeing), TSM (TSMC), WMT (Walmart), and COST (Costco), supporting 1–20x leverage for both long and short positions. This enables traders not only to allocate to spot positions, but also to flexibly use leverage strategies to capture opportunities amid market volatility.

Exclusive Pre-IPOs channel: investment opportunities to get in early on future star companies that haven’t listed yet

Another highly appealing dimension of stock tokens is that they allow retail investors to gain earlier access to Pre-IPO quality targets that are almost impossible to reach in traditional finance. On April 13, 2026, the Gate stock token section launched, in its first batch, perpetual contract pre-market trading for five tokens: OPENAIUSDT, ANTHROPICUSDT, ANDURILUSDT, KALSHIUSDT, and POLYMARKETUSDT, supporting 1–10x long and short positions. Products under OpenAI such as ChatGPT and DALL·E are profoundly changing the global technology landscape, while Anthropic is a top-tier AI safety research institution founded by former core members of OpenAI—before their official IPOs, traditional investors almost have no access to them.

In the latter part of that month, Gate further introduced a Pre-IPOs mechanism, with the first project being SpaceX (asset certificate code: SPCX). The subscription price was $590/SPCX, and the minimum threshold was only 100 USDT. After subscribing, the asset certificates could directly enter pre-market trading without any lock-up period. For countless investors eager to participate in top unlisted enterprises such as SpaceX and OpenAI, Gate’s Pre-IPOs opens what would normally be private placement opportunities reserved for top venture capital firms to retail investors worldwide—an undeniably epoch-making development.

Platform scale and compliance strength: a safety margin built on the top three globally plus 34 licenses

Behind all these innovative products is Gate’s increasingly solid platform strength and compliance layout. According to data from CoinDesk and CryptoRank, Gate’s spot trading volume ranks among the top three globally, and its derivatives market share continues to expand. To date, Gate has obtained or completed regulatory registration, license applications, and authorizations in jurisdictions including Malta, Cyprus, The Bahamas, Japan, Australia, and Dubai. In the United States, Gate US holds 34 state-level money transmission licenses, and its compliant operating scope covers 46 U.S. jurisdictions. In the European Union, Gate’s Malta subsidiary Gate Technology Ltd has obtained a PSD2-based payment institution license, enabling compliant payment solutions in all EU member states. The platform’s overall reserve ratio is 122%, and the BTC reserve ratio is as high as 147%. In a macro environment characterized by industry volatility and tightening regulations, it builds a solid foundation of compliance and security trust.

Conclusion

Tokenized stocks have grown from fringe experiments in crypto finance into an indispensable part of global investors’ asset allocation. With years of deep cultivation in compliance, industry-leading liquidity, and innovative mechanisms such as Pre-IPOs, Gate is accelerating this future narrative into actionable reality.

From 7×24 hours full-time trading and T+0 instant settlement to an investment threshold as low as $10, from pre-market contracts on AI unicorns like OpenAI and Anthropic to exclusive Pre-IPOs subscriptions for SpaceX, and from direct USDT trading to a compliance network covering 46 jurisdictions worldwide—more and more crypto traders are turning to Gate stock tokens. At the intersection of traditional financial markets and the crypto world, Gate is redefining how global traders understand and participate in stock assets in a more flexible, lower-barrier, and more compliant way.