Bitget plans U.S. launch with or without CLARITY Act, CEO says

Bitget plans to enter the U.S. market regardless of whether Congress passes the CLARITY Act, according to CEO Gracy Chen. 

The exchange is reviving an expansion effort it shelved after the 2022 collapse of FTX and the regulatory pressure that followed.

Chen said she is leading the push and wants Bitget to establish a U.S. entity before offering services. The company plans to pursue money-transmitter, derivatives and broker-dealer approvals before launching services.

Bitget revives U.S. expansion after years on sidelines

Bitget considered setting up a U.S. business in 2022 but later dropped the plan as enforcement actions and regulatory disputes increased across the crypto industry. Chen said the company has now made a decision to return. 

“With or without the Clarity Act, Bitget has already made a decision to enter the U.S. market,” she said.

The launch will still depend on regulatory approvals. Chen said Bitget wants licenses in place before rolling out services. The exchange intends to operate through an independent U.S.-based entity, separating the planned business from its offshore platform.

That approach follows Bitget’s wider effort to seek local approvals in markets. Bitget EU submitted a MiCAR application to Austria’s Financial Market Authority in June. The company has also expanded through registrations in markets including Argentina while keeping restricted jurisdictions separate from its growth plans.

Tokenized stocks become part of Bitget’s U.S. strategy

Bitget’s U.S. ambitions extend beyond standard crypto trading. Chen said the company has held discussions with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq about distributing tokenized traditional assets. She described the exchanges as collaborators as platforms across the financial sector bring stocks onto blockchain-based systems.

The talks come as tokenized equities take a larger role inside Bitget’s business. Chen said traditional assets represented between 20% and 30% of the exchange’s spot trading volume in the previous quarter. She also said 52% of users now hold both crypto and stocks, while its tokenized-stock products have accumulated more than $100 million in assets.

As crypto.news reported on July 16, Bitget recently brought 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, while selected products can also serve as trading collateral.

However, a U.S. launch may require a different structure from products available elsewhere. Securities rules, broker-dealer requirements and derivatives oversight could determine which services Bitget can offer and how customers access them. Chen said the company wants those approvals settled before entering the market.

CLARITY uncertainty will not decide Bitget’s entry

Chen said the CLARITY Act could make the regulatory environment clearer, but she has become less confident that Congress will pass the bill before the midterm elections. The legislation seeks to create a federal framework for digital assets and divide oversight responsibilities between agencies including the SEC and CFTC.

The bill gained momentum this week after the White House accepted proposed ethics restrictions aimed at resolving one of the disputes delaying negotiations. However, as crypto.news reported, the Senate still needs enough Democratic support to reach the 60-vote threshold, while revised legislative text had not been publicly released as of July 22.

The House passed an earlier version of the CLARITY Act, but the Senate must approve its own text before the legislation can move toward final passage. Any differences between the two versions would then need to be resolved. Chen said those uncertainties will not determine whether Bitget enters the U.S., although clearer federal rules could simplify parts of the licensing process.

Bitget’s position comes as the exchange adjusts access and licensing across other jurisdictions. On July 22, it confirmed that it is not licensed or supervised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and that Singapore remains a restricted market. Bitget said it does not target residents there while continuing regulatory work elsewhere.

Its MiCAR application in Austria remains under review. Meanwhile, the company has expanded its regulated footprint in other markets, including Argentina. The U.S. plan follows the same stated approach: establish a local structure, obtain the required approvals and only then launch services.

Bitget has not announced a U.S. launch date. Chen’s comments show that the company has moved beyond simply considering an entry and is now preparing for the licensing process. The CLARITY Act could alter parts of the federal framework if Congress passes it, but Bitget’s expansion plan no longer depends on that outcome.