Bitget has teamed up with Reality and Keyring to explore a new way of earning returns from tokenized stocks. Their joint study examines a strategy that combines tokenized shares with short eq
Bitget has teamed up with Reality and Keyring to explore a new way of earning returns from tokenized stocks. Their joint study examines a strategy that combines tokenized shares with short equity perpetuals. However, the results reveal a significant gap between the funding income generated and what investors could actually keep.
Over the past year, Bitget has expanded its institutional RWA strategy by connecting traditional financial assets with blockchain infrastructure. Its efforts include Super Match, introduced in October.
The latest initiative takes that approach further. Investors hold a tokenized stock, issued as an rToken by Reality, while opening a short position on the corresponding equity perpetual.
Because the two positions move in opposite directions, they largely offset each other’s exposure to stock price movements. As a result, investors focus on collecting funding payments rather than betting on whether a stock will rise or fall.
This is where the different partners come in. Reality purchases and holds the underlying shares through licensed brokers, including access to markets such as Nasdaq and the NYSE. Meanwhile, Keyring structures the credit markets, IPOR Fusion provides the vault infrastructure, and 1Token monitors risk.
Your 1st cryptos with BitgetThis link uses an affiliate program.The simulation produced annualized net returns of approximately 7% in-sample and 4% out-of-sample. At first glance, those figures may look attractive. However, the gross funding premium tells a different story.
Although the premium ranged from 11% to 14%, financing charges, execution expenses, and liquidity constraints absorbed 7 to 10 percentage points. In other words, investors would retain only 29% to 36% of the gross premium in the out-of-sample results.
The difference between the two simulation periods also deserves attention. Net returns fell from 7% to 4%, a decline of roughly 43%. This suggests that the initial results may have benefited from favorable market conditions or model assumptions.
Still, the strategy does not need spectacular returns to make its case. Basis trading has long attracted institutional investors seeking market-neutral income. The real challenge is keeping costs under control when the strategy moves on-chain.
Bitget also stresses that its figures come from historical simulations. They do not represent actual investment returns or guarantee future performance.
The report highlights four major risks that investors should consider.
First, negative funding rates can quickly turn the trade against investors. When funding turns negative, short perpetual positions generate payments rather than collect them. Second, differences in collateral valuations can create problems when tokenized shares and perpetual contracts do not track prices at exactly the same time.
Leverage also introduces liquidation risks. Finally, redemption delays could complicate the process because traditional stock settlements do not move at blockchain speed. Reliable pricing, sufficient liquidity, and coordinated margin management therefore remain essential.
Bitget plans to use the research to develop selected products through Bitget Earn. However, any launch will depend on product reviews, regulatory requirements, and user eligibility. The company has not announced a launch date, and none of the strategies is currently described as live.
Ultimately, the partnership signals a broader shift: equity basis trading is moving beyond private institutional mandates toward public blockchain infrastructure. Whether these strategies can deliver consistent returns under real market conditions remains to be seen.
