Bitget is pressing ahead with plans to enter the U.S. market — with or without Congress passing the long‑debated CLARITY Act — the crypto exchange’s CEO Gracy Chen told reporters, signaling a revived push that was shelved after the collapse of FTX in 2022 and the resulting regulatory crackdown.
Chen said Bitget will establish a standalone U.S. entity and secure the necessary licenses before offering services stateside. That licensing roadmap includes money‑transmitter registration plus approvals for derivatives and broker‑dealer activities — a cautious approach designed to keep the planned U.S. business legally and operationally separate from its offshore platform.
Key details
- Bitget will form an independent U.S. company and seek local authorizations before launching.
- Targeted approvals: money‑transmitter, derivatives, broker‑dealer licenses.
- The company paused U.S. expansion plans in 2022 amid heightened enforcement across the sector but has now recommitted to re‑entering the market.
- “With or without the Clarity Act, Bitget has already made a decision to enter the U.S. market,” Chen said.
The decision follows Bitget’s broader strategy of pursuing local regulatory approvals in other regions. In June the firm filed a MiCAR application with Austria’s Financial Market Authority, has grown its regulated footprint in places such as Argentina, and explicitly keeps certain jurisdictions restricted — most recently confirming that it is not licensed or supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and that Singapore remains a restricted market.
Beyond spot trading
Bitget’s U.S. ambitions extend beyond ordinary crypto trading. Chen said the exchange has held talks with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq about distributing tokenized traditional assets, describing the talks as collaborative as incumbents experiment with on‑chain versions of stocks. Tokenized and traditional assets are already material to Bitget’s business: Chen said traditional assets accounted for 20–30% of the exchange’s spot trading volume last quarter, 52% of users now hold both crypto and stocks, and its tokenized‑stock products have gathered more than $100 million in assets.
Operational moves and products
- Bitget recently consolidated more than 100 tokenized U.S. stocks into a unified margin system alongside over 370 eligible assets.
- Its Reality platform offers 1:1‑backed tokenized equities and ETFs, and selected tokenized products can be used as collateral.
Regulatory caveats for a U.S. launch
Chen warned that U.S. securities laws, broker‑dealer rules and derivatives oversight could force a different structure for American customers versus offerings elsewhere. That’s why Bitget is prioritizing regulatory clarity and approvals before going live.
On the CLARITY Act
The CLARITY Act — legislation that would create a federal framework for digital assets and delineate oversight between agencies such as the SEC and CFTC — could simplify the licensing process if passed. But Chen said she’s growing less confident Congress will get the bill over the finish line before the midterm elections. The bill gained fresh momentum after the White House accepted proposed ethics limits intended to unblock negotiations, but the Senate still needs enough Democratic support to reach a 60‑vote threshold and revised text had not been publicly released as of July 22. The House has passed an earlier version, but differences between chambers remain.
What’s next
Bitget has not set a U.S. launch date. Chen’s comments indicate the company has advanced past feasibility discussions and into active preparation for licensing. While passage of the CLARITY Act could shape parts of the federal landscape, Bitget’s plan no longer hinges on that outcome — it intends to pursue a U.S. entry either way, provided it secures the required approvals.
Watchers should expect regulatory filings and additional detail on the company’s U.S. structure in the coming months as Bitget moves from planning toward licensing.
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