The reverse bridge: Crypto meets Wall Street using perps

Crypto exchanges are increasingly offering traditional assets, such as stocks, indexes, and commodities, through perpetual futures contracts, a trend dubbed the "reverse bridge." This shift is driven by the demand for 24/7 access to Wall Street markets, which traditional exchanges cannot provide due to their operational hours. According to CoinGecko, crypto exchanges processed $1.32 trillion in perpetual futures tied to traditional assets during the first five months of 2026, a significant increase from $104.21 billion in all of 2025.

Bitget, for instance, has seen 28% of its trading volume come from stock perps, a stark contrast to when they had no such products. While stock perps do not provide ownership or voting rights, they offer exposure to share prices, enabling crypto exchanges to cater to the growing demand for such products.

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