Gate.io

Gate traces back to 2013, when Lin Han founded Bter.com in China; after the 2017 crackdown the operation moved offshore and rebranded as Gate.io under a Cayman Islands holding company. In 2025 the group rebranded again, from Gate.io to simply Gate, moving its primary domain to gate.com. It runs spot, margin and perpetual futures markets, the Startup launchpad and an Earn suite, with the GT token driving fee discounts.

Gate publishes recurring proof-of-reserves reports using a Merkle-tree method augmented with zero-knowledge proofs, with reported reserves above 100% of user liabilities, around $10.5 billion at the most recent widely reported snapshot. That is better transparency than most rivals, though proof-of-reserves is a point-in-time snapshot, not an audit.

Gate's licensing improved materially through 2025 and 2026. Its Malta entity, Gate Technology Ltd, received MiCA crypto-asset service provider authorization from the MFSA in late 2025, allowing passported service across the EU, and added a Maltese PSD2 payment licence in early 2026. Its Dubai entity holds a full VARA VASP licence granted in April 2025. A separate Gate US entity operates a spot-only exchange in around 30 US states under FinCEN and state money-transmitter registrations.

The rest of the map is patchier: a Lithuanian VASP registration and reported registrations elsewhere sit in the lighter-touch category, and the ultimate holding company remains in the Cayman Islands. Still, holding a MiCA licence puts Gate ahead of the many exchanges that simply left the EU when the July 2026 deadline arrived.

Base spot fees are 0.1% maker and taker, dropping through 17 VIP tiers to near zero for large traders, with an extra discount for holding and paying fees in GT. Perpetual futures start around 0.05% each side. These are competitive numbers, and they matter for the welcome offer because the advanced rewards are fee credits: their value is realized only against fees you actually pay.

Gate's Rewards Hub structures the welcome offer in two layers. The Welcome Package pays futures vouchers worth 118 USDT in total: 50 USDT for signing up, 50 USDT for identity and face verification, 10 USDT for a first deposit of at least 10 USDT, 5 USDT for a first spot or futures trade of at least 10 USDT, and 3 USDT for downloading the app. Beginner tasks must be finished within 15 days of signup and each reward is claimed manually. That is the realistic take for a normal new user.

The advanced layer is a tiered Advanced Trading Task advertising up to 10,000 USDT, unlocked by net deposits plus cumulative trading volume: the first stage alone needs a 50 USDT net deposit and 500 USDT traded to pay 100 USDT, with the full amount sitting at thresholds far beyond casual use. Advanced rewards settle after the event ends and pass a 3-day review before payout. Stablecoin trades do not count toward the volume, and the rewards arrive as the same non-withdrawable vouchers.

Gate also runs rotating mystery-box campaigns, boxes advertised at up to 50 USDT each with randomized contents, triggered by referrals whose friends hit volume thresholds, and a referral program paying commissions on invited users' fees for 12 months. Offer structures change frequently, so treat the Rewards Hub in your account as the source of truth rather than any third-party figure, including this one.

Gate's restricted-locations list is long: it includes the United States (served separately by the spot-only Gate US), the United Kingdom, Canada, mainland China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia and twenty-plus more. Mandatory identity verification before deposits and withdrawals makes trading from a restricted country impractical, and referral codes must be entered at signup; they cannot be added later.

Vouchers and reward credits share the standard exchange pattern: non-withdrawable, non-transferable, short expiry windows, forfeited if unused. The welcome tasks are worth doing if you were opening an account anyway; they are not a reason to open one.