Bitget Adds Real US Stock Ownership to Crypto Accounts With Stock+ Launch

Bitget has launched Stock+, a feature that lets users buy shares in US-listed companies using USDC and other digital assets, the cryptocurrency exchange said today (Monday).

The product routes orders through regulated US brokers and gives holders direct ownership of the underlying shares rather than synthetic or derivative exposure, according to the company.

The launch sits inside Bitget's Stocks 2.0 ecosystem and extends a push to let customers move between crypto and equities inside one account.

It arrives during a broader scramble among trading venues to fold tokenized and traditional stock trading into crypto platforms.

How Stock+ Works

Users fund their accounts with digital assets, convert them into USDC, and buy listed shares from there, the company said. Trades are executed through brokers including RQD Clearing and Atomic Vaults Securities, with holders eligible for cash dividends and stock split adjustments.

Trading hours follow US pre-market, regular, and after-hours sessions. Bitget said Stock+ also supports inbound transfers from participating brokers, letting users consolidate existing US equity holdings on the platform.

"Access is important, but ownership matters too," CEO Gracy Chen said in a statement.

Promotional launch fees start from 0.1%, with a 50% discount running through Aug. 31, the company said. The discount is a marketing offer tied to the rollout.

A Step Beyond Bitget's Own Tokenized Stocks

The feature marks a shift from a model Bitget introduced only weeks earlier. In early June, the exchange launched Reality, which it describes as a regulated real-world asset protocol, alongside rToken, its own tokenized stocks.

Bitget says it has listed more than 500 US stocks and exchange-traded funds through that program, including SpaceX, Tesla and NVIDIA, with rToken assets under management above $50 million. Those figures are self-reported and have not been independently verified.

rToken gives users tokenized exposure to equities. Stock+ instead aims to place real shares in customer hands through the broker arrangement, a distinction Bitget put at the center of its announcement.

Exchanges Race to Merge Crypto and Equities

Bitget is entering a crowded field where the line between crypto venues and stock exchanges keeps thinning. Coinbase has asked the SEC for approval to offer tokenized stock trading, while Kraken has sought regulatory clearance for a 24/7 tokenized equity platform.

Traditional venues are moving too. The SEC approved a Nasdaq pilot allowing tokenized stock trading, and newcomer 24X National Exchange filed to trade tokenized equities on an already approved exchange.

Consumer routes are opening as well, with xStocks placing tokenized US equities inside a Telegram wallet.

Most of those efforts wrap equities in tokens. Stock+ takes the opposite path by settling real shares through US brokers. That sidesteps some of the regulatory questions tokenization still faces, but it also ties the product to conventional clearing pipes rather than blockchain rails.

What Bitget Did Not Disclose

Bitget describes itself as the world's largest Universal Exchange, a label it has not benchmarked against named rivals. The company did not specify which jurisdictions can access Stock+, the full broker lineup, or how custody of the underlying shares is structured.

Because settlement runs through RQD Clearing and Atomic Vaults Securities, the ownership claims rest on those broker relationships rather than on the exchange itself.

How crypto platforms split responsibility with licensed brokers has become a recurring question as the industry rethinks the boundaries of market access and hours through tokenization and round-the-clock trading.