37 state-level licenses—the trading platform race is now about “hard power”

Gate US’s U.S. compliance footprint continues to expand. With the Massachusetts MTL license now secured, the number of state-level licenses has reached 37. What is most noteworthy about this number is not “37” itself, but the shift in the logic of industry competition that it represents.

In the past, competition among trading platforms was somewhat like an e-commerce war: whoever offered more products, more promotions, and lower fees was more likely to attract attention. But as the global regulatory environment continues to mature, trading platforms are increasingly becoming financial infrastructure. Users care about more than just “whether they can trade”; they also consider asset security, compliance boundaries, capital efficiency, and whether a platform can operate stably.

From this perspective, compliance is actually a very special kind of moat. Unlike a new token, which can be quickly replicated, or a marketing campaign, where spending money can win users, it requires continuous investment and long-term accumulation.

That said, licenses alone are not enough. If a platform has only a stack of impressive licenses but lacks sufficient liquidity, a diverse product offering, and an excellent user experience, users still will not stay for the long term.

Therefore, I believe that the real competition among global trading platforms in the future will be “four-wheel drive”: compliance determines whether a platform can enter the market, products determine whether users are willing to stay, liquidity determines the trading experience, and localization determines whether the platform can truly integrate into the local market.#GateUS全美合规牌照增至37张

A license is a ticket, but the real competition only begins after getting the ticket.