TL;DR
- Gate said staking TVL stayed above $1 billion in Q1, while Gate Layer surpassed 100 million addresses and Perp DEX quarterly volume exceeded $13 billion.
- TradFi perpetual futures, ETF trading above 18 billion USDT, and AI-related infrastructure upgrades were presented as major contributors to broader platform growth.
- The company also highlighted 122% total reserves, a 147% BTC reserve ratio, and a Malta Payment Institution license alongside its existing MiCA position.
Gate’s Q1 report presents a company trying to look bigger than an exchange and more like an operating system for digital assets. The clearest message is that growth is no longer coming from a single product line, but from several businesses expanding at once. In Q1 2026, the company said staking products kept total value locked above $1 billion, while allocations into BTC and ETH continued to rise. Trading and on-chain activity accelerated: Gate Layer passed 100 million addresses, Perp DEX quarterly volume topped $13 billion, and ETF quarterly trading volume exceeded 18 billion USDT.
AI infrastructure and TradFi products are becoming central to the growth story
That breadth matters because the report links much of the quarter’s momentum to AI infrastructure and TradFi expansion rather than to exchange categories alone. TradFi perpetual futures emerged as an engine of growth, while AI-native tooling became part of the platform’s identity. Gate said Layer infrastructure kept expanding with more than 32 million transactions and added support for ERC-4337, EIP-7702, ERC-8004, Ethereum dAI, 8004scan, and x402 payment services. At the same time, Perp DEX expanded beyond 600 trading pairs and used products tied to gold, silver, and crude oil to broaden activity during macro conditions.
The report tries to show that user capital is spreading across more corners of the ecosystem instead of sitting in spot markets alone. The broader growth pattern is visible in wealth products, institutional flows, and user trading behavior all rising together. Gate said Simple Earn kept expanding, with BTC balances growing by more than 9% and new flexible and fixed-term products launched across dozens of assets. It said options daily active traders increased 54.6%, institutional futures volume rose 50.47% versus year-end, and holdings reached peak levels of 3,084 BTC and 175,700 ETH during the quarter.
Security and compliance are meant to give that expansion credibility beyond marketing. Gate is trying to pair growth with proof that its balance sheet, licenses, and reserves can support a financial role. According to its March proof-of-reserves report, the overall reserve ratio reached 122% and the BTC reserve ratio climbed to 147%, covering nearly 500 asset types. The company also said it secured a Payment Institution license in Malta to add to its MiCA footing in Europe. The quarter’s message is straightforward: Gate wants to be seen as financial infrastructure, not only a crypto exchange.
