Bitget’s tokenized-stock trading jumped 10-fold, letting traders act while Wall Street was closed

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the exchange’s tokenized stock trading volume surged ten times over the weekend compared with the previous one, as escalating Middle East tensions sent traders scrambling for a hedge while Wall Street was closed.

In a post on X on July 13, Chen wrote that markets have always cared about what happens on Saturday and Sunday – but traders previously had no way to act on that news until Monday. Bitget’s rTokens, which track the prices of traditional equities such as Nvidia, Micron and Alphabet, offered a real-time alternative. The result: weekend volume hit roughly 2.2 times the average weekend volume in June.

The most actively traded names were rNVDA (tokenized Nvidia stock), rMU (tokenized Micron) and rGOOGL (Alphabet). Chen noted that VIP users were noticeably more active than regular retail traders. “The larger the portfolio, the harder it seems to be to take Saturday night off,” she wrote.

Tokenized stocks allow users to buy and sell tokens pegged to the price of underlying equities, 24/7, even when conventional stock exchanges are closed. The product is still small relative to weekday flows – Chen acknowledged that weekend volume remains a fraction of Monday-through-Friday levels. But the spike underscores a clear demand for round-the-clock trading infrastructure.

The catalyst was fresh unrest in the Middle East over the weekend, though Chen did not specify the exact trigger. Geopolitical shocks often hit outside regular U.S. trading hours, leaving stock investors unable to adjust positions until the opening bell. Bitget’s rTokens filled that gap, at least for a handful of high-profile names.

For traders, the takeaway is twofold: tokenized equities can now serve as a real-time risk management tool during off-hours, and the pattern may encourage other exchanges to build similar products. The next test will come the next time a major event breaks between Friday’s close and Sunday’s open – and whether volume can sustain that momentum beyond a single weekend.