Connecting encryption, TradFi, and payments, is Gate completing the final puzzle of the "super APP"?

Author: momo, ChainCatcher

Recently, geopolitical conflicts have spurred the market for commodities like crude oil, which has also driven the prosperity of TradFi trading on CEX.

In fact, since the second half of last year, cryptocurrencies have been in a bear market, while traditional capital markets like precious metals and U.S. stocks have seen an upward trend. TradFi has gradually become a "secret war" among CEXs.

In this competition, Gate, which has been responsive to user asset demands, has reaped a considerable share of the benefits. According to data, as of March 19, Gate's single-day trading volume for TradFi contracts has exceeded $20 billion.

Compared to many exchanges that only began to catch up after the market heated up, Gate has already made systematic arrangements since last year. Therefore, when a major market event occurs, it can quickly absorb traffic and convert it into real trades.

For Gate, and even for the entire crypto CEX industry, TradFi is not just a temporary hot narrative; it may become a key path to breaking the shackles of the crypto cycle, pushing exchanges from being "single crypto asset trading platforms" to "super financial apps" aimed at a broader user base.

This time, we will use Gate as a sample to see how CEX has benefited from TradFi and how it is gradually influencing future trading patterns.

1. Why is TradFi so important for CEX?

Looking back at Gate's actions in the direction of TradFi and RWA, it is clear that it did not wait until the market heated up to follow suit.

As early as 2023, when RWA was still in the conceptual stage, Gate began systematically breaking down this sector through research reports, analyzing how assets like government bonds and private equity could be tokenized, and exploring the integration paths between RWA and DeFi, essentially conducting preliminary cognition and directional validation.

By 2024, it began entering the ecological preparation stage, continuously launching RWA-related projects while guiding user attention towards these types of assets through partnerships and special operations.

In 2025, Gate took a crucial step by productizing its offerings. At the beginning of 2025, it successively launched metal perpetual contracts and index contracts, even pioneering the category of index perpetual contracts. Subsequently, it introduced U.S. stocks and commodities, truly turning RWA and TradFi into tradable and participatory assets.

Thanks to this early layout, when the market for crude oil and commodities truly started, Gate was able to quickly meet trading demands rather than scrambling to catch up.

Why does Gate have this "sensitivity"? Essentially, this is not just Gate's judgment but a reality that the entire CEX industry has faced over the past two years: growth has begun to slow.

A CryptoQuant report shows that in 2025, the total volume of cryptocurrency spot trading is expected to grow by 9% year-on-year, far below the explosive growth of 154% in 2024; perpetual futures trading volume is expected to grow by 29%, with growth rates significantly slowing since the second half of last year.

In this context, CEX must seek new sources of growth, and TradFi and RWA provide a realistic and feasible direction.

On one hand, the infrastructure is gradually maturing. Whether it was the "tokenization of U.S. debt" craze during the last bear market or the recent TradFi trading boom in precious metals and commodities, it indicates that this is not just supply-side hype but a real market demand that has emerged at scale, and the infrastructure can meet user needs.

On the other hand, user demands are changing. CEX holds a highly active group of young trading users globally. For example, Gate has surpassed 50 million registered users.

These users have developed trading habits and are no longer satisfied with a single type of crypto asset; they now hope to allocate and trade various assets like crypto, gold, crude oil, and U.S. stocks on the same platform.

From the recent geopolitical conflict driving up assets like crude oil, we can already see a signal: a portion of trading flow that originally belonged to traditional financial markets is being absorbed by CEX.

This further validates that the core value of CEX is not just "trade matching" but its ability to shape the trading habits of a new generation of users, and TradFi is a key step in amplifying this capability and extending it to a broader range of asset classes.

2. How does Gate seize this wave of TradFi benefits?

From the current activity in Gate's TradFi sector, it is clear that they have achieved certain phased results. Overall, their core strategy is to gradually establish their competitive barriers through three dimensions: Product + Efficiency + Compliance.

1. Product Side: "Full Path + High Flexibility" Layout

From the layout of the top three exchanges in TradFi products, it can be seen that Gate stands out in terms of asset richness and product flexibility.

First, in terms of asset richness, Gate's TradFi covers a wide variety of assets including forex, precious metals, commodities, indices, and stocks, essentially bringing all mainstream TradFi assets onto the platform.

In terms of asset quantity, Gate covers nearly 300 types of TradFi assets. For precious metals, Gate covers over ten metal contracts including gold, silver, platinum, palladium, aluminum, and copper, making it one of the platforms with the most categories in the industry. Additionally, in terms of stock assets, it supports over 110 types of stock assets, placing it among the leading exchanges in terms of offerings.

Maintaining asset richness is supported by Gate's choice of a heavier strategic path: simultaneously advancing CFD (Contracts for Difference) + tokenized assets + perpetual contracts.

Currently, the main technical paths we see in CEX TradFi are these three, with most exchanges choosing one or two.

Gate's full-path coverage essentially meets different levels of user needs rather than serving only one type of trader. For example, for gold or U.S. stocks, users can engage in high-leverage short-term trading with CFDs, make allocations closer to spot through tokenized assets, or use contracts for difference for derivative hedging or trend trading.

In the long run, this is expected to allow Gate to build a solid infrastructure to accommodate larger traffic under the upcoming TradFi trend.

What is even more noteworthy is that in the TradFi sector, Gate has begun to make "flexibility" a real product capability rather than just a simple parameter adjustment.

Recently, while mainstream exchanges have adopted fixed leverage, Gate TradFi uniquely launched a "four-tier sliding leverage mechanism," which pre-sets multiple leverage ranges based on the volatility characteristics and liquidity structures of different assets. For example, for core assets like gold, Nasdaq, and crude oil, users can freely switch between 20x, 100x, 200x, and even 500x, rather than being restricted to a single fixed multiple.

This is not just a simple adjustment of leverage parameters but a refined response to user needs.

First, there is differentiated configuration by asset category. The volatility and liquidity structures of different assets vary; for instance, the volatility rhythm of gold and silver is clearly different from that of crude oil and stock indices. Therefore, the platform did not adopt a "one-size-fits-all" leverage standard but set corresponding leverage ranges for different categories such as metals, stock indices, forex, and commodities.

Secondly, there is a clear multi-tier design. Each asset category corresponds to four leverage tiers, ranging from relatively conservative low multiples to highly elastic high leverage ranges, forming a tiered structure. Users are no longer faced with a binary choice of "either low leverage or high leverage" but can select leverage based on their risk preferences when placing orders.

Looking deeper, this design actually serves different strategic needs. Low leverage is more suitable for trial positions, hedging, or medium to long-term allocations, while high leverage is better for trend amplification or short-term speculation. By integrating these leverage tiers, it essentially incorporates both "conservative" and "aggressive" trading styles into the same trading system.

Finally, there is an expansion of coverage. This mechanism is not limited to a single asset but has already covered gold, forex, stock indices, and commodities, meaning that trading in different markets can be managed and executed under the same logic for leverage management and strategy execution.

Overall, this "four-tier sliding leverage" mechanism adds a "strategy tool layer" within the multi-asset trading system, allowing users to conduct more refined risk and position management within the same account.

This is a very typical product optimization "starting from user pain points." In the current market, many traders have clearly felt a problem: the cost of trial and error is getting higher. Recently, trading high-volatility assets like crude oil with only fixed high leverage can lead to liquidation with just a slight misstep, leaving almost no margin for error.

Gate TradFi's flexible leverage mechanism essentially returns "risk control" to the users. While it may seem like a small functional change, it actually tests the platform's system stability, real-time risk control capabilities, and underlying liquidity depth comprehensively. Because once leverage becomes dynamic, margin calculations, liquidation logic, and execution matching become more complex, and if the foundational capabilities are insufficient, it can easily lead to risk spillover in extreme market conditions.

2. Unified Accounts and Sufficient Liquidity

If the product layer addresses "can it be traded," then Gate enhances user experience by making TradFi not just "available" but more efficient and user-friendly.

This is particularly noticeable in actual use, starting with the integration of the account system. On some platforms, crypto and TradFi trading are often separate, requiring funds to be transferred back and forth between different accounts. However, Gate adopts a unified account model, using USDT as margin, allowing users to switch between crypto and TradFi within the same account. On the surface, this just reduces a few steps, but during rapid market fluctuations, this "one less transfer" translates to higher responsiveness and lower operational costs.

At the same time, data on the web and app sides are interconnected, with positions, funds, and risk control statuses being synchronized in real-time, creating an overall experience that feels more like a complete system rather than a patchwork of multiple modules.

Another more intuitive aspect is the execution experience.

I primarily experienced mainstream assets like gold and crude oil. Previously, on some platforms, I often encountered two issues: either the spread (the difference between buying and selling prices) rapidly widened at critical moments before entering the market, leading to significantly increased trading costs; or after finally placing an order, slippage occurred at critical positions, causing the actual execution price to deviate from expectations.

However, during my recent use of Gate, the overall feeling has been relatively stable, with quick price updates, no significant anomalies in spreads, and good control of slippage.

More importantly, orders can be executed normally. This may sound basic, but those who have experienced it know that often it is not about making the wrong judgment but rather insufficient depth, leading to orders not being filled or profits being eaten away.

This point can also be indirectly validated by data; for example, Gate's XTI contract and XAUT contract previously ranked first and third globally in trading volume, indicating that liquidity is indeed supported.

Another aspect that I think may be friendly to large funds is that it has increased the single order size, allowing stock orders to go up to 100 lots, while other assets like commodities and indices can go up to 10 lots. This means that users who want to take larger positions do not need to break them down into smaller pieces.

Additionally, some mechanism details also reflect Gate's efforts to lower users' capital or usage costs. For instance, TradFi trading volume is also counted towards VIP status, allowing users to trade gold and forex while simultaneously upgrading, which will gradually lower fees. Furthermore, for those engaged in quantitative or automated strategies, the API can be directly integrated for operation, saving a lot of operational and time costs without needing to deal with intermediate layers.

3. Leading Transparency, Building Long-Term Advantages

If the previous product and efficiency aspects address "short-term growth," then in the field of TradFi, what truly determines the upper limit is compliance and transparency, for a simple reason: only when rules are clear and information is transparent will institutions and high-net-worth users dare to invest large sums of money.

In this regard, Gate's recent investments have been quite evident. According to the second transparency ranking of crypto exchanges released by RootData, Gate has ranked first in relevant dimensions.

The core of such rankings is not just traffic or trading volume but also includes market maker structure, asset transparency, and the completeness of platform operational data. In other words, it addresses a deeper issue: making the trading of TradFi assets on-chain become "trustworthy."

3. Gate Card: Bridging the Last Mile of the "Super APP"

It is worth noting that beyond TradFi trading, Gate has recently made a crucial addition to the payment side by launching the newly upgraded Gate Card.

If we simply outline the timeline: from launching a crypto debit card in 2023, to piloting in regional markets in 2025, and then fully upgrading the version in 2026, Gate Card has gradually evolved from a "payment tool" to a core component connecting trading and consumption.

The focus of this version is quite clear: higher cashback (up to 5%), a more flexible tier system (dual-track upgrades), and higher payment limits (up to $500,000 per day), essentially enhancing its appeal in high-frequency usage scenarios.

However, the key is not these parameters but its position within the entire system:

It truly extends "trading" to "consumption." Users can directly use the profits gained from crypto or TradFi trading on Gate to complete global consumption without needing to transfer out or switch platforms.

This means a complete closed loop is beginning to form: trading for profit, real-time consumption, and tier upgrades returning to the trading system.

Why is this step being taken now? If the previous TradFi layout was addressing the question of "what money to earn," then Gate Card is essentially addressing the question of "how to spend the money."

Once the platform has the capability for multi-asset trading, payment capability becomes a key factor in determining whether users will stay long-term.

From a broader perspective, this step is quite important. Gate is gradually bridging three things: from crypto asset trading to TradFi asset expansion, and then to real-world consumption.

Perhaps moving from a "trading platform" to a "capital circulation platform," and then towards a "super financial lifestyle app" is the key path for CEX to truly break free from cycles and seek long-term growth.