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CEXs collectively rush into U.S. equities: Is buying stocks with stablecoins becoming the new gateway?

Author: Changan I Biteye Content Team

Recently, cross-border U.S. equity investing has once again come under intense scrutiny.

On one hand, regulators are continuing to crack down on offshore brokers offering services to domestic users. Platforms like Futu and UP Fintech have previously been penalized over related issues. For retail investors, the traditional path of accessing U.S. equities through online brokers is becoming increasingly uncertain.

On the other hand, global demand for allocating assets into U.S. equities remains strong. This 'demand spillover' has recently fueled a new wave of cryptocurrency exchanges (CEXs) launching U.S. stock trading products.

This latest push by CEXs into U.S. equities is far from a simple addition of a few new tradable assets—it is a strategic battle centered around stablecoins to capture the primary gateway for global users’ asset allocation.

This article will conduct an in-depth comparison of the current mainstream CEX U.S. equity offerings, analyzing their similarities and trade-offs across four core dimensions: underlying asset coverage, liquidity depth, fee structure, and dividend rights.

Binance has adopted a structure combining 'Binance as the front-end interface + Nest Trading Limited providing brokerage support + Alpaca Securities handling execution and custody.'

In simple terms, users place stock trades within their Binance accounts, but Binance itself does not directly execute, clear, or custody the stocks.

This securities trading service is supported by Nest Trading Limited, which acts as an introducing broker—receiving user orders and routing them to the executing broker.

The actual execution, clearing, settlement, and securities custody are handled by the U.S.-licensed broker-dealer Alpaca Securities LLC. Alpaca Securities is a member of FINRA and SIPC, and user stock orders enter the U.S. equity market through it.

Underlying Assets:

Binance Stock Trading currently supports over 7,000 listed stocks and ETFs.

In terms of underlying asset coverage, Binance does not limit itself to just a few popular U.S. stocks but instead functions more like a comprehensive gateway to U.S. equities and ETFs. Users can access blue-chip stocks, ETFs, and a broader range of U.S.-listed assets through Binance.

Costs:

Binance stock trading charges no commissions, but this does not mean it is entirely cost-free.

According to Binance’s documentation, a platform fee applies to trades:

For trade amounts of USD 350 or less, the minimum platform fee is USD 0.35;

For trade amounts exceeding USD 350, there is no minimum platform fee, but a 0.1% spread applies, rounded up to two decimal places.

Additionally, certain ADR assets may incur ADR fees, typically ranging from USD 0.01 to USD 0.03 per share. Binance currently does not charge account maintenance fees, inactivity fees, or stock custody fees, but other costs—such as currency conversion fees, regulatory fees, and dividend-related taxes—may still apply.

Dividend Eligibility:

Users are beneficial owners of the shares they purchase and are therefore entitled to receive dividends where applicable, as well as participate in corporate actions related to their holdings, such as stock splits and reverse splits.

However, the dividend payment timeline, tax withholding methods, and whether users in different regions are subject to the same treatment rules should still be governed by Binance's securities trading policies.

Evaluation:

Binance Stock brings U.S. equity trading closer to a standardized securities product.

It has a relatively low entry barrier—trading can start with as little as USD 5—and supports fractional share trading for certain stocks. For users who already hold USDC, USDT/U, or BNB on Binance, it offers a more convenient pathway to access U.S. equities.

However, Binance’s fee structure differs from other platforms. While it emphasizes zero commissions, actual costs are reflected in minimum platform fees, spreads, ADR fees, and other potential external charges.

Overall, Binance resembles a U.S. equity trading module embedded within an exchange account, with USDC as its settlement core. Its strengths lie in asset coverage and account accessibility, but the ultimate user experience will depend on regional availability, trading hours, spreads, and actual settlement rules.

The Bitget/Reality product suite follows a structure of 'real securities backing + rToken on-chain representation + Bitget distribution and trading.'

After users purchase rTokens with stablecoins, Reality acquires the corresponding underlying U.S. stocks or ETFs through licensed brokers and issues the matching rTokens. Each rToken is backed by real underlying securities, and users hold on-chain asset representations rather than the original shares held directly in traditional brokerage accounts.

In this framework, Bitget Exchange primarily serves as the trading gateway and distribution channel, providing liquidity and user access for rTokens, while Bitget Wallet acts as the wallet interface, enabling users to access and hold rTokens on-chain.

Regarding underlying asset custody, Reality’s documentation states that the base assets are held by Alpaca Securities LLC, a FINRA-registered and SIPC-insured U.S. broker-dealer. In terms of transparency, Reality engages The Network Firm to provide independent reserve attestation reports verifying that circulating rTokens are backed by real underlying securities held in regulated custody.

Underlying asset:

Bitget previously offered U.S. equity-related products, including tokenized stocks and perpetual stock contracts. The distinction with Reality / rToken is that it does not merely add more U.S. equity trading pairs but aims to upgrade tokenized U.S. equities from price-tracking instruments into on-chain tokens backed by real underlying assets.

Reality plans to initially launch with 100 actively traded assets and eventually expand to over 1,000, covering stocks, ETFs, funds, and commodities.

This indicates that Bitget is not simply listing a few popular U.S. equity trading pairs but intends to position Reality as a systematic gateway for real-world asset (RWA) exposure.

In-depth:

Reality emphasizes 24/5 minting, low trading latency, and 1:1 backing, highlighting its integration with Bitget’s trading infrastructure and licensed brokers to connect on-chain activity with liquidity from traditional U.S. equity markets. Compared to synthetic U.S. equities relying solely on on-chain AMMs or internal market-making, this design theoretically offers an experience closer to actual U.S. stock trading.

Costs:

According to Reality’s documentation, the settlement price of rTokens reflects the actual price paid or received for the underlying asset, and Reality itself does not charge any additional platform fees.

When users buy or sell rTokens, their primary costs are determined by the execution price of the underlying asset and the gas fees required for on-chain transactions.

However, rTokens can also be traded on secondary markets such as exchanges, where pricing and fees are set independently by each platform.

For reference, Bitget’s default maker and taker fees are both 0.1%.

Dividend eligibility:

Dividends are a key distinction between Reality and ordinary synthetic US stocks.

According to Reality's official website, corporate actions such as dividends, stock splits, and mergers are automatically processed on-chain, with dividends paid out in stablecoins directly to users' wallets. This means rTokens not only track stock prices but also aim to replicate real-world corporate actions associated with actual stock ownership on-chain.

However, having dividend replication does not equate to users holding full shareholder status. Users hold rTokens rather than the underlying shares held in traditional brokerage accounts, so voting rights, shareholder privileges, and investor protection mechanisms cannot be simply equated to those offered by Futu, Tiger Brokers, or Interactive Brokers (IBKR).

Evaluation:

The significance of Bitget / Reality is not merely enabling users to buy US stocks on a centralized exchange (CEX), but rather an attempt to integrate stablecoins, US equity exposure, dividend replication, and on-chain settlement into a unified offering.

Its advantage lies in a more comprehensive product design: it features a clear roadmap for expanding underlying assets, supports purchases with USDT/USDC, and incorporates dividends and corporate actions into its mechanism design. If rTokens later support margin trading, lending, or strategy-based trading, capital efficiency could be further enhanced.

However, caution is warranted at this stage. Reality has not yet officially launched, and key aspects—such as the number of available underlying assets, 24-hour trading volume, real market depth, slippage, and user experience around dividend payouts—still need to be validated.

Therefore, it should currently be viewed as a promising new tokenized approach to US equities worth monitoring, rather than a mature US stock trading platform.

Gate has also launched stock trading services today. Users can access the stock trading interface within the Gate app and transfer USDT into their stock trading account. After placing orders, Gate routes trades through its partner licensed US broker-dealer, meaning users trade actual stocks and ETFs—not tokenized stocks or price-tracking derivatives.

In this structure, Gate primarily handles the front-end interface, account display, USDT fund transfers, and overall trading experience. The partner broker-dealer manages the execution of underlying US equity trades, asset custody, and processing of cash dividends, stock dividends, splits, and reverse splits.

Tradable Assets:

Gate supports over 10,000 stocks and ETFs and will continue expanding its coverage to include major U.S. exchanges such as the NYSE, Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, and BATS.

In terms of the number of tradable assets, Gate holds a clear advantage. Rather than offering only a limited selection of popular U.S. stocks, its asset coverage closely resembles that of traditional brokers. In addition to large-cap tech stocks, users can also access a broader range of sector-specific equities and mainstream ETFs.

However, the specific assets available for trading—and whether users in different regions can see the stock trading interface—should be confirmed based on what is actually displayed within the Gate app.

In-depth:

According to Gate’s official documentation, Gate Stocks provides equity trading services through a U.S.-licensed brokerage firm, connecting users directly to the U.S. stock market. Users trade actual shares of stock, not tokenized representations or synthetic price exposure.

This means its liquidity does not rely on on-chain automated market makers (AMMs), nor does it involve the platform issuing a token and acting as its own market maker. Instead, liquidity is sourced through a regulated brokerage with direct access to U.S. securities markets.

However, Gate has not yet disclosed specific metrics such as 24-hour trading volume, order book depth, average spreads, or slippage data. At this stage, it is reasonable to conclude that its liquidity originates from traditional U.S. equity markets, but the actual trading experience will ultimately depend on real-world execution.

Costs:

Gate Stocks’ trading fees align with Gate’s spot cryptocurrency trading fee structure and benefit from the same VIP-tier discounts. Fees are calculated based on the transaction value and the applicable rate, with actual deductions reflected in trade confirmations and account statements.

For example, standard VIP0 users are charged a base spot trading fee of 0.1% for both maker and taker orders.

Dividend Eligibility:

Gate stocks support corporate action processing.

If users hold positions during events such as cash dividends, stock dividends, stock splits, or reverse splits, Gate will automatically adjust their accounts in accordance with their holding rules.

Cash dividends are distributed in USDT; stock dividends proportionally increase the number of shares held; and stock splits or reverse splits are automatically reflected in adjusted position quantities by the platform.

Evaluation:

Gate Stocks has already launched and currently supports the Android app, while iOS and web platforms are not yet available.

Its positioning is quite clear: it is not a tokenized U.S. equity product but rather provides access to real U.S. stock trading services within a centralized exchange (CEX). For crypto-native users, this lowers the barrier to investing in U.S. equities and ETFs.

MEXC’s U.S. stock offering is called RealStocks, which also follows a model where the CEX serves as the front-end interface, backed by a regulated brokerage.

RealStocks is supported by a dedicated securities service entity: VistaMX Markets Limited.

Users trade U.S. stocks using USDT within their MEXC accounts, while VistaMX Markets Limited handles the underlying securities services as an intermediary broker, routing user orders to execution brokers, custodians, exchanges, and clearing and settlement systems.

Underlying assets:

MEXC RealStocks provides exposure to actual U.S. equities, allowing users to trade shares of U.S.-listed companies and ETFs through the platform.

According to the current webpage display, RealStocks has already listed over 100 underlying assets, covering individual U.S. stocks and major ETFs. For example, tech stocks, semiconductor-related companies, and ETFs such as SPY and QQQ are visible on the page.

In-depth:

MEXC RealStocks is supported by regulated brokers and market infrastructure, aiming to give users direct access to the real U.S. stock market rather than synthetic price exposure generated internally by the platform.

The official statement also noted that the RealStocks trading experience will closely resemble spot trading, reducing the learning curve for crypto-native users entering the U.S. equity market.

The MEXC Stocks feature is now live, but mainland Chinese users cannot complete KYC and therefore cannot view actual trading activity.

Costs:

MEXC has launched a limited-time promotion offering zero platform fees for RealStocks.

After the promotional period ends, the official platform fee structure for RealStocks has not yet been clearly disclosed. For reference, MEXC’s current spot trading fees are 0% for makers and 0.05% for takers.

Dividend eligibility:

MEXC RealStocks allows eligible users to participate in dividend distributions from the underlying companies.

According to the official description, users purchase actual shares of U.S.-listed companies and are entitled to shareholder rights, including gains from price fluctuations and dividend payments.

However, the dividend payment method, settlement timeline, tax deductions, and whether users in different regions enjoy identical rights remain subject to MEXC's product rules and the actual display in user accounts.

Evaluation:

The most immediate appeal of MEXC RealStocks lies in its relatively low fee threshold during the initial launch phase.

Currently, RealStocks is running a limited-time promotion with zero platform fees, and when combined with the USDT funding option, it significantly lowers the cost for users trying U.S. stock trading for the first time. This low-cost trial is highly attractive to many crypto users who only want to experiment with small amounts in U.S. equities or temporarily participate in trending sectors such as AI, semiconductors, and electric vehicles.

However, MEXC RealStocks is only available to users in select compliant jurisdictions and does not support users from mainland China.

From heavy investments by Bitget, Gate.io, and MEXC to industry giant Binance’s repeated forays into U.S. equities and real-world assets (RWA), centralized exchanges (CEXs) collectively entering the U.S. stock market has evolved into an industry-wide trend.

On the surface, this appears to be just another trading category added by the platforms—users can now buy U.S. stocks and ETFs using USDT or USDC and even receive dividends, seemingly replicating certain functions of traditional brokers within the exchange.

But looking deeper, this actually represents a shift in the asset boundaries of CEXs.

In the past, exchanges primarily served crypto assets: spot trading, derivatives, wealth management products, and new token listings.

Now, with U.S. equities entering the same account ecosystem, CEXs are attempting to evolve from 'crypto asset trading platforms' into 'gateways for global asset allocation.'

When users already hold USDT or USDC, trading U.S. stocks no longer requires going through traditional brokers, bank deposits, and currency conversion processes; instead, they can directly use funds embedded in their exchange accounts. Stablecoins are becoming a bridge connecting crypto and traditional finance (TradFi) assets.

Its significance goes beyond merely offering users another venue to buy U.S. stocks—it marks the beginning of exchanges expanding their asset offerings from crypto into traditional assets like stocks and ETFs.

In the future, what’s traded on centralized exchanges (CEXs) may no longer be limited to cryptocurrencies, but increasingly include assets from global markets. This paradigm shift has only just begun.

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