Metamorphosis of Crypto Exchanges: From “Digital Currency Platforms” to “Multi-Asset Integrators”

Over the past decade, crypto exchanges have been the main arena for digital asset trading. But by 2025, this definition is quietly expanding. With market development, evolving user demands, and the growing integration between traditional and on-chain finance, crypto platforms are undergoing a profound transformation—from “digital asset matchmaking centers” to “gateways for multi-asset access.”

One of the most pronounced trends is the introduction of traditional financial assets into the on-chain ecosystem: tokenized stocks, on-chain bonds, stablecoin yield markets, and more are gradually gaining popularity. Investors are no longer satisfied with merely trading within the crypto sphere—they increasingly want to access global assets within the same platform and digital asset ecosystem.

Why Stocks? Why Now?

Stocks have long represented top-tier global assets, valued for both their technological growth potential and company quality. For many investors in emerging markets, direct investment in stocks remains inconvenient due to complex account opening procedures, incompatible trading hours, and difficulty using crypto assets for access.

Meanwhile, on-chain investors have become highly adept at managing stable assets like USDT and ETH. They are used to decentralized, permissionless asset management. They don’t want to relearn complex processes or switch channels; instead, they want to invest in multi-asset portfolios with just one click from their crypto wallets.

The demand for “direct on-chain stock investing, fractional shares, leverage, and 24/7 trading” is growing rapidly.

User Scale: The Watershed for Platform Evolution—Gate Surpasses 30 Million Registered Users

A larger user base fosters an environment ripe for product innovation. For example, in June 2025, Gate announced its number of registered users surpassed 30 million, covering over 200 regions worldwide. This mass of users from emerging markets provides both a foundation and credibility for piloting innovative products.

The significance of this user base lies in:

The platform can support large-amount asset trading using USDT without the need to introduce fiat currencies;
New users don’t need to learn complex traditional financial processes and can seamlessly transition in a familiar interface;
The community itself supports education and viral growth, making it easier for new products to gain traction quickly.
Compared to traditional financial platforms rolling out on-chain services, this pathway is clearly more efficient and better suited for younger users.

Who’s Truly Expanding Asset Boundaries? Gate, Tokenized Stocks, and Product Innovation

Recently, Gate’s launch of its xStocks Stock Zone drew industry attention. Users can directly trade tokenized stocks like Apple, Tesla, and mainstream ETFs with USDT, supporting contracts, leverage, fractional shares, and round-the-clock operations.

This means users can go long or short on specific stocks, hedge indices, or even conduct high-frequency T+0 trades in the middle of the night—all within a crypto asset environment.

Gate has explored the integration of on-chain and traditional assets numerous times. This move aligns more closely with a real, sustainably operated asset platform. Compared to DeFi protocols that still lack liquidity and other platforms’ short-term experiments, Gate already presents a complete product ecosystem.

Of course, other exchanges in the industry are also pushing asset boundaries, exploring product types like on-chain wealth management, Web3 payments, and AI assistants. However, at the “one-stop shop for multi-asset products” level, Gate is unquestionably one of the pioneers.

Industry Repositioned: Exchanges Become “All-in-One Asset Platforms”

Today’s major crypto platforms are increasingly becoming “multi-asset aggregation gateways”:

Like banks: offering crypto savings and regular investment plans;
Like brokerages: enabling trading of mainstream digital assets and tokenized stocks;
Like toolboxes: equipped with integrated wallets, reward systems, and data analytics tools;
Like traffic portals: supporting seamless interaction between Web2/3, CeFi, and DeFi.
In this race, whoever can offer more diverse assets and broader user experiences stands to win the next wave of financial technology dividends. Gate’s milestone of reaching 30 million users is a signal for the industry: platforms with rich products, a deep user base, and global coverage are ready to expand into non-crypto asset territories.

Final Thoughts:

If early exchanges were like a “digital-asset Taobao,” then by 2025, exchanges will resemble a “multi-finance WeChat,” capable of supporting asset migration, payment and settlement, leveraging strategies, and on-chain management—all within a single platform.

Whoever upgrades first to a “multi-asset, all-in-one platform” will likely seize the high ground in the next cycle. Gate is merely one proactive participant, reflecting the industry-wide reshuffling of channels and business boundaries that is already underway.