Bitget has released a guide for institutional clients on how to use cryptocurrency collateral together with tokenized stocks in a unified margin framework. The focus is on rToken tokens, through which cryptocurrency, shares of American companies, and borrowed funds can work in a single strategy without constantly transferring funds between different accounts.
rToken are RWA tokens of the Reality platform, which is supported by Bitget. Their tickers receive the prefix r: for example, rTSLA corresponds to Tesla shares, and rAAPL to Apple shares. The underlying assets are held by a broker registered with FINRA and participating in the SIPC insurance program.
Reality already supports 500 tokenized US stocks and ETFs. Among the available securities:
- Intel;
- Nokia;
- SpaceX;
- Nvidia.
The platform’s assets under management have exceeded $100 million.
The proposed schemes are built around the Cross-Asset Unified Account, or UTA. Such an account accepts 370 assets as collateral, including 100 American stocks. The overall margin pool includes:
- cryptocurrencies;
- tokenized securities.
This means investors do not need to split capital across separate accounts.
How Cryptocurrency Collateral Works
Cryptocurrency collateral is a digital asset that a borrower places as security for a loan or trading position. While the obligation is active, the collateral is held according to the platform or protocol rules and serves as protection for the lender in case the borrower does not repay the funds or the value of the collateral drops sharply.
You can take out a loan secured by cryptocurrency without selling the asset itself: the owner places Bitcoin, Ethereum, or another supported asset, receives liquidity in the available currency, and monitors the collateral level. The terms usually depend on the list of supported assets, rate, term, storage rules, and permissible LTV. If the market moves against the borrower and the margin buffer is insufficient, part or all of the collateral may be liquidated.
If an investor provides funds secured by cryptocurrency, they act as the lender: providing liquidity, earning interest, and the crypto collateral reduces the risk of default. When the borrower violates the terms or the value of the collateral falls below the allowed level, the collateral may be sold to cover the debt.
LTV: The Metric That Determines the Safety Margin
LTV shows the ratio of the loan amount to the value of the collateral. If a borrower takes $5,000 against $10,000 in assets, the LTV is 50%. The higher the LTV, the more money can be obtained immediately, but the smaller the buffer before a margin call or liquidation if the collateral price falls.
Where to Get Crypto Loans and What to Look For
On the market, loans secured by cryptocurrency are offered by both centralized platforms and DeFi protocols:
- Binance, Nexo, and YouHodler are centralized services where the platform sets the loan terms, asset list, limits, and storage rules;
- Aave and MakerDAO are DeFi protocols where the loan is processed via smart contracts, and parameters depend on the protocol rules.
A ruble loan secured by crypto is only possible where the platform directly supports settlements in rubles and works with the relevant jurisdiction. For Russian residents, local restrictions, contractual framework, taxes, and the procedure for accounting for digital asset transactions are important.
To reduce the risk of collateral loss due to hacking or technical failure, pay attention to the asset storage model, reserve audits, insurance if available, incident history, two-factor authentication, and withdrawal rules.
How Bitget Proposes to Use Unified Collateral
The idea of UTA is that one asset can support several market positions at once. For a major market participant, this is not only about access to new instruments but also capital efficiency: investments in stocks, Bitcoin positions, and derivatives operations can be linked in one system.
- Buying stocks without selling cryptocurrency. An institutional fund can deposit Bitcoin or Ethereum as collateral, borrow USDT, and buy rNVDA or rTSLA in the same account. For spot positions, leverage up to 5x is available, and the base crypto portfolio is not sold.
- Carry trade on rSTRC. rSTRC is a tokenized version of Strategy preferred shares. The liquidation par is $100, the market price is about $88, and the annual dividend is $12 per token. Payouts are calculated from the full nominal position, while interest is charged only on the borrowed part. According to Bitget, with 3x leverage and a 2% rate, net yield can reach 36.8% per year versus 13.6% without leverage.
- Stocks as margin for crypto futures. rNVDA, rTSLA tokens, and similar instruments can be used to secure BTC and ETH positions. Investments in the securities themselves are preserved.
- Cheaper financing. USDT against Bitcoin and Ethereum: Bitget’s rate is 2.5% per year, while competitors, according to Bitget, start from 3.7%. Funds can be used for crypto positions, buying tokenized stocks, or trading gold and oil via a CFD account.
- USDC against Bitcoin and Ethereum: Bitget’s rate is 3.3% per year, while competitors, according to Bitget, start from 3.7%. The directions of use are the same: crypto positions, tokenized stocks, gold, and oil via a CFD account.
- Choosing between overall efficiency and risk isolation. The UTA loan mode combines the margin pool with other positions and allows profits and losses to be offset. Crypto Loans, on the other hand, assess risk separately, so a failure in one strategy should not automatically affect the entire account.
“Institutional investors already have access to stock markets. Now the task is for capital to work simultaneously in several markets. As tokenized assets enter institutional portfolios, the focus shifts from providing access to assets to more efficient capital allocation,” said Bitget CEO Gracy Chen.
Pros and Risks: Liquidity Without Selling the Asset, but With the Threat of Liquidation
Crypto loans can be convenient when you need to quickly obtain liquidity without selling the underlying asset. This approach gives more flexibility: capital can be directed to a new deal, a long-term position can be maintained, or several strategies can be combined in one margin framework.
But the unified collateral pool works both ways. If tokenized stocks fall in price, this can bring cryptocurrency collateral liquidation closer. In terms of risk, every asset in the accounting of such a strategy should be assessed not separately, but taking into account the entire related position.
The main risks are associated with collateral volatility, rising LTV, margin calls, and forced liquidation. Added to these are technical failures, possible attacks on the platform or protocol, as well as legal restrictions in a specific jurisdiction.
The floating interest rate also remains an important factor. A positive spread is not guaranteed: if the cost of financing rises, the calculated yield may deteriorate sharply. In such conditions, credit and borrowing become not just a source of liquidity, but a separate source of risk.
For rSTRC there are additional restrictions. Redemption is only available in special windows, and canceling the dividend destroys the yield model. Investors are advised to assess Strategy’s creditworthiness independently.
From the perspective of collateral in civil law, such instruments should not be regarded as a complete analogue of classic bank collateral. For participants from Russia, local requirements, the Bank of Russia’s approach to digital asset and investment product operations, as well as tax accounting, are additionally important: it is better to record interest, income, and asset movements in advance to correctly reflect them in declarations.
How This Fits Into Bitget’s Strategy
The data in the guide is as of July 22, 2026. The document is published on The Block platform at the request of Bitget.
The initiative continues the Universal Exchange, or UEX, strategy. As part of it, Bitget combines digital assets, stocks, commodity instruments, and the currency market in a single trading environment. Access to tokenized securities opens after registering an account on Bitget.
Earlier, ForkLog analyzed the UEX concept and how it connects the crypto market with traditional finance.
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