Gate is the fourth-largest crypto perpetuals venue and one of the oldest exchanges still operating, founded in 2013 by Dr. Lin Han and serving more than 49 million users after its group-wide rebrand from Gate.io. The platform reported $3.8 trillion in 2024 trading volume, with contract trading contributing $2 trillion of it.

Its perpetuals platform spans 560+ pairs at up to 125x leverage in USDT and BTC-margined variants, backed by a unified account, portfolio margin, and a dual-price liquidation system keyed to external spot indexes. Gate also leads every centralized exchange in stock perpetuals open interest, holding nearly double Bybit's total as equity contracts become the market's fastest-growing segment.

Its regulatory map is wider than most offshore rivals can claim. A MiCA license from Malta's MFSA covers the EU alongside a full VARA license in Dubai, and licensed local entities serve Japan through the Coin Master acquisition and Australia under AUSTRAC registration.

BingX is a copy-trading-first perpetuals exchange founded in 2018 by Josh Lu, serving more than 10 million users across 160+ countries with one of the widest traditional-asset derivatives lineups of any mid-tier venue.

Its futures platform spans USDT and USDC-margined crypto perpetuals at up to 125x leverage plus 50+ TradFi contracts covering gold, oil, forex, US stocks, and indices, reaching 500x on select forex pairs.

Regulation runs through AUSTRAC registration in Australia and Lithuania's FCIS, while BingX EU has applied for MiCA authorization through Austria's FMA, so EEA access remains unauthorized pending that decision.

Security carries one scar handled cleanly. A September 2024 hot wallet breach cost between $43 million and $52 million, users were fully compensated from reserves within days, and the exchange publishes Proof of Reserves alongside an expanded Shield Fund since.