When the traditional stock market meets blockchain, an investment revolution is quietly taking place. In July 2025, the globally leading crypto trading platform Gate officially launched the xStocks US stock trading area, initially supporting popular tokenized products including COINX (Coinbase), AAPLX (Apple), TSLAX (Tesla), and MSTRx (MicroStrategy).
This innovation is created by the Swiss compliance platform Backed Finance, which transforms real-world stocks into tradable tokens on the blockchain through a 1:1 physical asset collateral mechanism, opening the door for global investors to trade US stocks around the clock without the need for traditional brokerage accounts.
What is xStocks?
xStocks is a compliant physical asset tokenization project launched by Backed Finance, which is centered around converting globally publicly traded stocks into crypto tokens that can be freely traded on-chain through a 1:1 full asset collateralization.
Each xStocks token corresponds to real stocks held in compliance with Swiss banks (such as InCore Bank and Maerki Baumann) and has an ISIN number approved by EU regulators, ensuring transparency and asset authenticity.
Unlike traditional stocks, xStocks tokens do not include shareholder voting rights, do not directly distribute cash dividends, and only track the price fluctuation returns of the underlying stocks. Its advantage lies in breaking the multiple restrictions of traditional financial markets:
- Round-the-clock trading: 24/7 uninterrupted trading, not limited by traditional stock market hours.
- Fractional share investment support: Participate with a minimum of 10 dollars, no need to purchase whole shares.
- On-chain free circulation: Tokens can be transferred across wallets, integrated into DeFi protocols, or used for staking.
- Globally accessible: No need for a bank or brokerage account, just a crypto wallet or exchange account.
Why choose xStocks to invest in US stocks?
Traditional US stock investment poses many barriers for non-US residents—complex account opening processes, strict regulatory restrictions, trading time obstacles due to time zone differences, and high minimum investment requirements. xStocks effectively addresses these issues through blockchain technology.
In terms of trading mechanisms, xStocks adopts an innovative "debt structure" design (corp debt), allowing it to bypass the registration requirements for traditional equity transfers, achieving on-chain free transfers similar to stablecoins, while avoiding traditional financial costs such as stamp duty.
The xStocks section of the Gate platform supports both spot trading and perpetual contract trading, allowing users to choose 1-10x leverage for long and short operations, providing flexible strategy options for investors with different risk appetites.
Current market data shows that xStocks trading volume is highly concentrated, with popular assets such as NVDAx, MSTRx, TSLAx, and SPYx being actively traded, while some long-tail assets still show insufficient liquidity, and users need to pay attention to slippage issues.
How to buy MSTRx on the Gate platform?
MicroStrategy (stock code MSTR), as the largest publicly traded company holding Bitcoin globally, its on-chain token MSTRx has become one of the hottest assets in xStocks. Below are the specific purchasing steps:
- Enter trading pair: select MSTRx/USDT trading pair
Order type selection:
- Market Order: Execute immediately at the current best price
- Limit Order: Set an ideal buying price, waiting for the market to reach it for execution.
- Take Profit and Stop Loss Orders: Automatically executed when preset trigger conditions are met (suitable for volatility management)
- Enter purchase quantity: Enter the purchase quantity based on account balance and risk preference (supports fractional share purchases)
- Confirm Order: Submit the order after verifying the price and quantity
After completing the purchase, the MSTRx token will be displayed in your spot wallet, where you can view your holdings’ profits and losses or perform selling operations at any time.
For professional traders, the Gate Alpha section offers on-chain direct trading of MSTRx, enjoying lower slippage and better liquidity.
Gate xStocks limited-time welfare event
To promote the newly launched xStocks section, Gate will launch a series of reward activities in July 2025, where participants can earn generous returns by participating in trading:
- New user first order gift: After signing up, complete your first xStocks transaction or recharge to receive a 100 USDT contract experience voucher + 10 GT tokens.
Trading Volume Challenge:
- Daily trading volume reaches 20,000 USDT: Reward 10 USDT
- Daily trading volume reaches 100,000 USDT: Reward 20 USDT
- Daily trading volume reaches 200,000 USDT: Reward 100 USDT
Continuous Trading Incentive Award:
- Meet the standard for 3 consecutive days: an additional 50 USDT
- Achieve standards for 5 consecutive days: an extra 100 USDT
- 7 consecutive days of meeting the standard: an additional 200 USDT
The event covers popular trading pairs such as COINX, NVDAX, AAPLX, MSTRx, and participation requires registration through the event page.
Investment Risk Warning
Despite the unprecedented convenience of investing in US stocks that xStocks offers, investors still need to be acutely aware of its specific risks:
- Market Volatility Risk: Both US stocks and cryptocurrencies are high-volatility assets, and prices can fluctuate dramatically.
- Liquidity risk: Some underlying assets may have insufficient trading depth, potentially leading to situations where transactions cannot be executed immediately.
- Technical and platform risks: including potential security threats such as system failures and hacker attacks.
- Regulatory policy risk: The regulatory framework for tokenized securities is still evolving in various countries, leading to uncertainty.
- No shareholder rights: Holding xStocks does not grant traditional stock voting rights or direct dividend income.
Gate official reminder: Investment carries risks, and users should make prudent decisions based on their own risk tolerance and seek independent professional advice if necessary.
Future Outlook
With Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) completing a record $2.52 billion STRC stock IPO on July 29, 2025, and increasing its holdings by 21,021 Bitcoin, its stock token MSTRx is becoming a new tool for crypto investors to indirectly gain exposure to Bitcoin.
xStocks is not just an investment tool; it is a key bridge between traditional finance and the crypto world. Whether it’s US stock investors exploring the new frontier of blockchain or crypto users seeking traditional asset allocation, Gate’s xStocks section offers an unprecedented low-threshold entry.
