Retail trading is moving into a broader, more tactical phase as Bitget’s 2026 UEX findings show crypto users adding equities, commodities and AI tools to their workflows. The study, based on platform data and a survey of more than 6,000 users, still shows crypto at the center: 86% of users hold digital assets. Yet the picture is no longer crypto-only. By March, crypto’s share of trading activity had fallen to 60% to 80% after dominating the start of the first quarter. For retail investors, the portfolio perimeter is expanding fast, and the shift looks increasingly strategic as volatility reshapes allocation decisions.
Cross-Market Access Becomes the New Retail Baseline
Equities are becoming a major part of that shift. The findings show 52% of users now hold stocks alongside crypto positions, while 35% have exposure to commodities such as gold and other precious metals. Commodity activity moved particularly fast, rising from near-zero levels to as much as 40% of total volume during the quarter. That is a striking rotation for a platform built around the Universal Exchange model, where users can trade crypto, tokenized stocks, commodities and forex from a single account. Multi-asset access is turning into a retention engine for increasingly active traders.
AI is also moving from novelty to operating layer. Around 51% of respondents already use AI tools to support investment decisions, including interpretation of earnings data, macroeconomic signals and blockchain activity. That matters because retail users appear to be reacting less like isolated token traders and more like cross-market allocators. The wealthier cohort reinforces the point: users recorded an average 13% return in 2025, while a small VIP group generated gains between 51% and 100%. Risk management is becoming more data-driven, especially among high-value users planning further diversification in 2026 ahead.
Regional behavior adds another layer to the story. In East Asia, stablecoin-based systems help users avoid currency conversion and traditional banking requirements. In Southeast Asia, leverage access remains a key driver. In Latin America, inflation concerns continue to push users toward diversified portfolios spanning crypto and traditional assets. At the platform level, 71% of users identified stablecoin settlement as essential, while 65% prioritized fast switching between asset classes within one account. Retail trading is becoming more macro-aware, less tied to a single market and more focused on speed, settlement and portfolio flexibility this cycle.
