Gate Research Institute: Traditional asset trading routes on exchanges are diverging; Gate is building a comprehensive order book perpetual system.

Summary

• Gate is the only exchange that achieves comprehensive coverage across all asset classes (stocks, metals, indices, forex, commodities) within perpetual contracts (Orderbook mode). For professional users who prefer order book matching, transparent depth, and API trading, Gate offers the most complete and closest-to-native crypto contract experience in TradFi trading.
• Most competitors focus on independent TradFi CFD modules, supporting cross-market users with multiple underlying assets and low barriers. Gate’s differentiated advantage lies in integrating traditional assets into a unified order book perpetual framework, building it as a reusable derivatives infrastructure, thereby creating a mechanism gap with competitors at the order book perpetual layer.
• As the industry shifts from product stacking to trading infrastructure competition, the emphasis on open matching, transparent liquidity structures, and reusable trading paradigms in order book mode aligns more closely with the long-term direction of RWA toward standardized trading scenarios. Gate’s unified order book architecture covering multiple asset classes provides greater scalability for future expansion into more complex real-world asset trading forms.

1. Definition of Market Product Forms

In mainstream crypto exchanges’ TradFi layouts, the key difference between platforms is not just how many traditional assets are listed, but how these assets are introduced into the market. Different product forms determine how trades are matched, how key price parameters (such as index prices/mark prices) and risk controls are anchored, and whether trading experiences and strategies can be reused within the crypto derivatives framework.

Based on differences in trading mechanisms, current implementations of CEX TradFi derivatives can be summarized into two main forms:

• One is native perpetual contracts (Orderbook mode), which incorporate stocks, indices, forex, or commodities into an order book matching system. Trades are executed through buy/sell order matching, using frameworks similar to crypto perpetual contracts such as funding rates; mark prices and funding rates are often calculated around external indices or reference prices and premium indices, making TradFi underlyings more similar to native crypto contracts in visible depth, order placement, market making, and API consistency—naturally suited for quant institutions and API users.
• The other is TradFi CFD (Quote) mode, centered on platform or liquidity provider bilateral quotes. Trades mainly occur through bid/ask matching, with limited visible order book depth and maker ecosystem. Its advantages include a wide variety of assets and low entry barriers, but key elements like price formation, spreads/commissions, overnight fees, and liquidation paths depend more on platform mechanisms, with less strategy reuse potential, favoring medium- to low-frequency and directional trading.

I. Perpetual Contracts vs CFD

Differences in product forms and trading mechanisms have led to clear divergence in platform strategies and long-term directions.

2. Core Data Matrix Analysis

2.1 Perpetual Contracts (Orderbook) Coverage Matrix — Gate’s Absolute Moat

From the coverage matrix, Gate has established a very clear leading position in traditional asset order book markets. Currently, Gate is the only platform achieving full coverage across all asset classes in order book form—stocks, metals, indices, forex, and commodities can all be traded within the same order book system. It is also the only exchange that truly integrates indices and commodities into the order book. Placing TradFi assets directly into an order book, rather than via quote-based CFDs, essentially adopts a more realistic trading approach. This means prices are market-matched, with real order depth, the ability to place orders and market make, and enabling strategies and APIs to treat these assets like BTC or ETH.

II. Mainstream Crypto Exchanges’ TradFi Orderbook Coverage

Note: Only perpetual contracts supporting order book mechanisms are included; quote-based (CFD/Quote) modules are excluded.

In stocks, Gate has launched 16 assets supporting order book matching, ranking among the top in similar platforms. It covers core tech stocks like AAPL, NVDA, TSLA, as well as high-beta assets closely linked to crypto such as COIN, MSTR, and extends to indices like QQQ, TQQQ. This combination allows professional traders to participate in stocks, crypto-mapped assets, and macro indices within a single order book perpetual system, enabling more comprehensive cross-market trading and hedging.

In metals, Gate’s perpetual contracts cover core safe-haven assets like gold and silver, further expanding to platinum, palladium, as well as industrial metals like copper, aluminum, nickel, forming a complete metals and industrial metals trading structure. Amid the strong and volatile metals market in 2026, this multi-layer coverage allows metals to carry hedging, macro, and industrial cycle trading logic simultaneously within the order book system, significantly enhancing tradability and strategy space.

Moreover, Gate has a substantial first-mover advantage in index perpetuals, with 8 indices such as NAS100, UK100, SPX500, US30, HK50, JPN225—all operating on the order book system, forming a product barrier difficult to replicate.

Additionally, forex and commodities perpetuals have also been practically implemented. Although still expanding in number, their technical, risk control, and liquidity models have been validated. Notably, Gate has developed a fully independent differentiated range for TradFi commodities perpetuals, with live contracts for XTI (WTI crude oil) and XBR (Brent crude oil). In the context of ongoing geopolitical tensions and rising energy prices in 2026, including crude oil as a core commodity in the order book perpetual system enables efficient hedging, directional trading, and cross-asset allocation within a native crypto derivatives framework, further strengthening Gate’s early-mover advantage in the TradFi perpetual space.

2.2 Comparison of TradFi CFD Modules — Main Battlefield for Competitors

In the TradFi CFD space, the competitive landscape differs markedly from the order book perpetual layer. This segment emphasizes “asset diversity,” with the core goal of lowering barriers and quickly onboarding cross-market users. Product forms are mainly quote-based, with shallow or no order book depth, offering a trading experience closer to traditional forex or CFD platforms, suitable for directional bets but not for deep participation or high-frequency trading.

III. Mainstream Crypto Exchanges’ TradFi CFD Module Comparison

Note: Only independent TradFi/CFD quote modules are included; perpetual contracts are excluded.

Within this framework, other major CEXs cover a broader user base with numerous stock, forex, and index assets. Compared to them, Gate also offers some stock CFD products but with restrained resource input. Currently, Gate’s CFD module covers 69 stocks, 17 indices, 47 forex pairs, plus some metals and commodities, forming a basic but supplementary role rather than a core focus.

Overall, Gate’s advantage is not in listing many TradFi underlyings but in whether these assets can be traded like native crypto assets—i.e., with real order depth, continuous price discovery, order placement, market making, and direct usability via quant strategies and APIs. This approach of treating TradFi assets as native derivatives creates a mechanism gap with other platforms at the perpetual layer.

3. Objective Facts and User Experience Differences (Qualitative Analysis)

Beyond quantity, product operation, user experience, and fee rates also influence user choices.

3.1 Asset Visibility and Compliance Thresholds

Platforms differ significantly in asset visibility and compliance strategies. Gate adopts a relatively conservative approach: TradFi stock trading pairs are only visible to logged-in users; visitors cannot browse the order book directly, limiting search engine indexing and organic traffic. Additionally, Gate emphasizes asset naming isolation, using prefixes like X or suffixes like ONDO (e.g., TESLAX, APPLON) to highlight synthetic or tokenized assets. This reduces compliance risks but may reinforce user perceptions that these are not real stocks.

In contrast, M*** and B****** adopt more aggressive user acquisition strategies, making TradFi stock products openly accessible to all visitors, displaying native stock codes like AAPL, TSLA, facilitating natural traffic and near-zero user understanding barriers, significantly improving initial reach and conversion. Similarly, B******’s order book info is publicly visible. These strategies favor user growth and cognitive migration but may face higher regulatory and securities compliance risks.

3.2 Fee Rates and Product Operations

In TradFi-related products, Gate and B****** adopt markedly different pricing models: Gate continues the fixed-per-contract fee common in CFD markets, while B******’s TradFi Perps use a percentage fee based on nominal trading volume.

IV. B****** TradFi Fee Structure / Gate / TradFi Fee Structure

Using gold (XAUUSD) as an example, with a 1 lot = 100oz contract, Gate’s TradFi metal contracts charge a fixed fee per lot: ordinary users (VIP4 and below) pay about $6 per lot; VIP5 and above pay about $5.4. This fee is independent of gold price and nominal volume, transparent before trading.

In contrast, B******’s TradFi Perps use a percentage fee model based on notional volume. Without discounts, the maker fee for ordinary users is 0.05% (0.045% if paid with BNB), and VIP9 users pay 0.017% (0.0153% with BNB). Fees scale linearly with gold price.

At 100oz per lot, the fee parity point suggests B******’s fees are generally lower at typical gold prices:

• Ordinary users: $120–133/oz
• Highest VIP level: $318–353/oz

Given that real gold prices are usually well above these thresholds, Gate’s overall transaction costs for small to medium positions are more competitive, especially in scenarios such as:

• Small or single-lot trades, avoiding fee escalation with price
• High-frequency or strategy trading, prioritizing stable, predictable costs
• Migration from TradFi/CFD users familiar with fixed-per-contract fees

Gate’s marketing and content efforts around TradFi are more concentrated and ongoing. Current app and web analytics show Gate has launched over 10 active or recent campaigns, including trading rewards, physical gold incentives, beginner tasks, demo funds, and point rewards, with frequent updates. Gate also provides over 10 announcements, tutorials, and explanatory contents covering product launches, contract rules, leverage and risk controls, research insights, and beginner guides, forming a comprehensive activity and education system.

In product presentation, Gate highlights the TradFi module on app and web homepages, positioning it as a core business area to reduce discovery and understanding barriers. Conversely, B******’s TradFi entry points are deeper and more feature-focused, with fewer systematic tutorials or marketing campaigns. Overall, Gate’s frequent activities and detailed content give it an advantage in user outreach, initial conversion, and education.

3. Gate TradFi Entry

3.3.3 Strategic Divergence in Trading Models

3.3.1 Platform Mode Choices

In the TradFi segment, platform choices for traditional asset trading reflect strategic positioning and product architecture:

• B****’s pure CFD approach:** B****** does not support traditional assets within perpetual contracts. All traditional assets are traded via separate TradFi CFD modules, effectively segregating crypto and traditional trading systems, with independent logic and matching mechanisms.
• B****’s hybrid approach:** B****** supports stocks and metals within perpetual contracts but requires users to switch to a dedicated TradFi CFD interface for other assets like indices, forex, and commodities, often involving re-login or verification, incurring interface and session transition costs.
• Gate’s multi-asset Orderbook perpetual strategy: Gate applies order book perpetual matching for stocks, metals, indices, forex, and commodities, rather than relying on separate CFD quote products. These assets are integrated into a standardized derivatives market, with prices determined by order book supply and demand, providing a market-driven environment rather than quote-driven. Although assets are segmented into different trading sections, the underlying matching framework, order book logic, and trading rules are consistent, enabling unified market mechanisms and strategy reuse across multiple assets.

3.3.2 Strategic Implications of Mode Choices

These three designs embody different strategic philosophies. B****** and B******’s approaches are more “pragmatic,” quickly deploying products by isolating crypto and TradFi systems, optimizing for different user groups and market needs. This architecture allows rapid product launch and market coverage.

In contrast, Gate’s unified order book approach covers all assets under a single matching system, positioning the platform as a neutral intermediary. In an order book mode, the platform does not act as counterparty; its revenue derives from trading fees, independent of user profit/loss. CFD models often involve the platform as counterparty, with revenues linked to user outcomes. Gate’s insistence on an order book for TradFi assets signals a philosophy: TradFi assets should be matched similarly to crypto assets.

This transparent, market-driven matching experience appeals to users seeking liquidity, transparency, and counterparty risk control.

3.3.3 Long-term Strategic Intent

From a trading structure and risk management perspective, different modes have inherent scalability differences. In an order book system, the platform’s role is solely to match orders; users are counterparties, and the platform does not set prices or bear directional risk. This design allows the platform to focus on liquidity, matching efficiency, and market depth, without structural burdens from asset expansion, supporting multi-asset, long-term evolution.

From a long-term RWA perspective, mature RWA trading requires clear price discovery, transparent liquidity, and reusable trading infrastructure—not reliance on a single product or closed pricing models. The open matching and market-based pricing emphasized by order book mode align with this goal. Gate’s current unified order book architecture for TradFi assets is essentially building a scalable framework for future real-world asset on-chain trading, providing an early advantage as RWA markets mature.

4. Conclusion: Gate’s Transition from Multi-Asset Expansion to Infrastructure Upgrade

A comprehensive analysis of product forms, data matrices, and platform pathways reveals a clear conclusion: Gate’s true differentiation in the TradFi space is not just “listing more assets,” but “adopting what trading structure to carry these assets.” While most industry platforms are still expanding TradFi products, Gate has entered the mechanism competition stage.

The mainstream approach is to incorporate traditional assets into independent CFD quote systems, with asset coverage and low barriers as core competitive points; Gate, however, is evolving towards a more foundational architecture—integrating TradFi assets directly into a unified order book perpetual matching system, ensuring price formation, depth, matching logic, and API rules are consistent with native crypto contracts. This means Gate is not merely extending traditional TradFi products but building a multi-asset, unified derivatives trading infrastructure.

From a trading structure perspective, the core value of order book mode lies in open matching and market-based price discovery. Assets entering this system are priced by real buy/sell orders, allowing order placement, market making, and participation in depth—creating an open market experience rather than a quote-driven environment. For quant institutions and API traders, this mechanism offers strategy reuse: cross-asset hedging, macro strategies, event-driven trading, and high-frequency market making can all be executed within a unified matching logic, without rebuilding execution or risk assumptions for each asset class. This structural consistency makes Gate’s TradFi trading seamlessly integrated into the native crypto derivatives ecosystem.

Based on this analysis, Gate’s strategic positioning in the TradFi order book pathway can be summarized as follows:

VI. Gate TradFi Orderbook Strategic Positioning Matrix

Building on this structural foundation, Gate’s platform role and long-term expansion path become clearer. The order book architecture reinforces its role as an independent matcher. The platform’s core functions are matching and liquidity organization, without bearing price direction risk, allowing continuous investment in liquidity depth, matching efficiency, and market structure optimization. This mechanism does not introduce structural risks when expanding asset classes, making it well-suited for supporting long-term multi-asset evolution. As the industry shifts from “product quantity competition” to “trading mechanism competition,” this structural advantage will become a sustained moat.

From a longer-term perspective, this aligns with the evolution of RWA trading. Mature RWA markets require transparent price discovery, open liquidity structures, and reusable trading interfaces. The order book mode is the core foundation of such standardized trading forms. Gate’s current use of a unified order book for TradFi perpetuals effectively pre-builds a scalable framework for future real-world asset on-chain trading. This positions Gate with inherent structural capacity and first-mover advantage as RWA trading infrastructure matures.

Based on this strategic positioning, Gate’s external narrative should evolve from “TradFi asset expansion” to “multi-asset trading infrastructure upgrade.” The core messaging should emphasize:

• Unified Orderbook Perpetual Architecture:** Gate’s differentiation is not just asset count but the fact that these assets operate within the same matching logic as standardized derivatives markets.
• Real Market Depth and Price Discovery: Through visualized order book depth and ecosystem, users understand these assets are in a tradable, market-driven environment, not quote-driven or closed.
• Professional Trading Scenarios: Gate’s TradFi order book is better suited for cross-asset hedging, macro strategies, event-driven trading, and deep-structure quantitative strategies, rather than a simple “cross-market wealth management portal.” This narrative will help establish a clearer mechanism perception among professional traders.

Finally, at the industry long-term narrative level, gradually extending from “Traditional Asset Orderbook Perpetual” to “Future RWA Standardized Trading Interface” will position Gate as not only an innovator in TradFi but also an early builder of real-world asset on-chain standardized trading infrastructure.

In summary, Gate’s role in the TradFi space is not merely a platform offering more traditional assets but a pioneer in multi-asset order book derivatives infrastructure. As the industry moves from product expansion to mechanism upgrade, this pathway’s long-term value will continue to grow. Gate’s core strategic significance lies in its use of a unified order book architecture to lay the groundwork for a multi-asset, standardized, and reusable future trading ecosystem.

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