Gate, formerly Gate.io, is a crypto exchange that Dr. Han founded in 2013 as Bter.com. On 13 September 2026 its reserves were 117% of user balances, and its standard spot fee is 0.1%. Bter.com was hacked in 2014 and 2015. Gate’s global platform doesn’t serve the US, the UK, Canada or 32 other listed places, and futures are high-risk.
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Availability: Gate’s User Agreement names 35 Restricted Locations for its global platform, including the US, Canada, the UK, Japan, India and six EU countries. Gate says the list is not complete (Gate User Agreement, clause 2.5, checked 14 October 2026).
Gate is a centralized exchange: a company that holds your coins while you trade. Its founder and CEO is Dr. Han, who started it in 2013 (Gate About Us, checked 14 October 2026). CoinDesk names him Lin Han.
It began in China as Bter.com. After China banned ICOs (token sales) and fiat-to-crypto trading in 2017, Bter.com closed and relaunched as Gate.io (CoinDesk via Yahoo Finance, April 2019). In May 2025 it moved to gate.com and the name Gate (Gate announcement, May 2025).
Is Gate.io a Chinese company? In 2018, Gate.io told New York’s Attorney General in writing that it was based mainly in China (NY Attorney General report, September 2018). Mainland China is now a Restricted Location, and the global User Agreement follows Panama law (clause 14.1). Gate says it isn’t registered in the Cayman Islands. But in December 2023, an Indian government agency named Gate.io’s operator as Gate Technology Incorporated, a Cayman Islands company (PIB India, December 2023).
Is Gate.io legit? Licences by region
Mostly yes, with one gap. Gate has run since 2013, and several Gate companies hold licences in their own regions. But Gate’s licences page doesn’t say which of them runs the global platform at gate.com.
Region
Gate company
Licence or registration
EU, plus 29 other European countries
Gate Technology Ltd, Malta
MiCA licence, the EU’s crypto licence, from Malta’s regulator (Gate announcement, October 2025)
United States
Gate US, Inc.
Registered with FinCEN, a US Treasury office. Licensed to move customers’ money in 37 states and territories (Gate US licences, checked 14 October 2026)
Dubai
Gate Technology FZE
Licence from VARA, Dubai’s crypto regulator, for exchange services
Japan
Gate Japan K.K.
Registered crypto exchange with Japan’s FSA, No. 00018
Australia
Gate Information Pty Ltd
Registered with AUSTRAC as a digital currency exchange
The Bahamas
Gate Global Limited
Approved by The Bahamas’ securities regulator for crypto business
Unless marked, rows come from Gate’s licences page, checked 14 October 2026. It also lists custody, DLT and investment firm licences in Hong Kong, Gibraltar and Cyprus.
Is Gate.io safe? Proof of Reserves and account security
Gate reports more reserves than user balances, but its report is a dated snapshot, not insurance. Proof of Reserves (PoR) compares the coins an exchange holds with its users’ balances. A 117% ratio means 117 dollars held for every 100 dollars users hold.
13 September 2026 snapshot
Gate holds
Users hold
Reserve ratio
All assets
8.21 billion dollars
7.01 billion dollars
117%
BTC
25,466 BTC
21,166 BTC
120%
ETH
433,589 ETH
350,840 ETH
124%
USDT (Tether, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar)
909 million USDT
796 million USDT
114%
Source: Gate Proof of Reserves, checked 14 October 2026, when this was still the latest snapshot. It doesn’t show Gate’s other debts, and a one-day snapshot can’t prove the coins stay there.
A Merkle tree lets you check that your own balance is included. Gate adds zk-SNARKs, cryptographic proofs that the totals add up without revealing user data. The page names Hacken as the audit firm for “Gate PoR Implementation”, dated 3 January 2024, and lists no newer audit.
Most funds sit in offline, multi-signature cold wallets, which need several keys to move (Gate Security, September 2026). Gate’s SAFU fund, paid from trading fees, is its own reserve, not government insurance (Gate About Us).
Good to know: Gate staff will never ask for your password or SMS verification code (Gate security zone, April 2025). Never send crypto to anyone who says it will “activate” a bonus.
Is Gate.io a scam? Hacks and regulator actions on record
No. Gate has run since 2013, its regional companies hold licences, and it publishes reserve data. Its record still includes hacks, an outage and regulator actions.
Date
What happened
Source
August 2014
Bter.com, the earlier name, lost about 50 million NXT coins (around 1.7 million dollars) through its servers. Most came back days later after talks with the hacker
Gate.io declined a New York Attorney General study, saying it didn’t allow New York trading. It was then referred to the state’s financial regulator over a possible breach of crypto rules
A 51% attack, where one group controls most mining power and rewrites recent transactions, hit Ethereum Classic. Gate.io lost about 40,000 ETC (around 200,000 dollars) and said it would cover it. The attacker later returned about 100,000 dollars
India’s financial intelligence unit sent Gate.io and eight other offshore exchanges show-cause notices, formal demands to explain themselves. It said they were operating illegally without registering under India’s anti-money-laundering law, and asked for their websites to be blocked
Heavy traffic forced an emergency upgrade of futures services. Gate said spot and withdrawals kept working, and offered compensation for losses, excluding market moves
In the 60 days to 14 October 2026, we found no news of a Gate hack, a platform-wide withdrawal pause or a new regulator action. Gate’s notices only paused single coins (Gate announcements, checked 14 October 2026).
Gate.io fees: spot, GT discount, Alpha and futures
At VIP0, the base level, Gate’s spot fee is 0.1% for makers and takers (Gate fee page, checked 14 October 2026). It drops to 0.09% if you pay with GT, Gate’s own token, whose price moves. A maker’s order waits in the order book, the list of open orders. A taker fills an order already there.
Fee
Rate at VIP0
Notes
Spot maker / taker
0.1% / 0.1%
0.09% / 0.09% with GT Deduction
Alpha (early on-chain tokens)
0.8%
Much higher than spot
Futures
Tiered by VIP level
Charged only when you open, close or reduce a position (futures fee rules, April 2022)
P2P (buying from other users, while Gate holds the coins until payment is confirmed)
Fees fall at higher VIP levels, reached by trading more or holding more GT.
Is Gate.io good for beginners? Simple and advanced products
Yes, if you start with spot and Convert and leave advanced tools for later. You must be 18 or older and pass KYC (Know Your Customer), the identity check. Gate requires it before you deposit or withdraw crypto (Gate KYC guide, April 2020).
Product
What it does
For beginners?
Spot
Buy or sell a coin outright
Yes, start here
Convert
Swap one coin for another in one click. The cost is built into the quoted price (Convert guide, September 2021)
Yes
Simple Earn
Interest on coins you hold, flexible or fixed term. Leaving a fixed term early loses the interest (Simple Earn, September 2026)
Possible, but read the term
Futures
Bet on a price going up (long) or down (short) without owning the coin
No
Futures usually use leverage, meaning borrowed money. Gate offers up to 125x on its BTC/USDT perpetual contract, a futures contract with no end date (Gate Learn: futures, April 2026). Your margin is the money backing a position, and the margin ratio measures how well it covers the position. At 100% or less, Gate force-closes the position. This is liquidation, and the margin is lost.
⚠️ Watch out: Don’t start with futures. A small price move against a leveraged position can wipe out your margin.
Gate.io vs Binance and OKX: key differences
We don’t rank them: the right one depends on where you live and what you trade.
Anyone living in a clause 2.5 Restricted Location, such as the US, the UK or Canada, can’t use the global platform.
Where you live
Can you use Gate’s global platform?
United States
No. Gate US, Inc. runs a separate platform
United Kingdom
No. UK residents are also excluded from beginner tasks and events (Rewards Hub FAQ, November 2024)
Canada
No
France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Malta
No. Gate’s EU company covers these countries (next row)
Other EU countries
Not named in clause 2.5. Gate’s EU company serves the European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), so follow the sign-up page
Japan, the United Arab Emirates
No. Gate’s licensed local companies there are separate, and we haven’t checked their sign-up rules
South Korea, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia
Treat it as no. Gate’s sign-up page names it (checked 14 October 2026)
Belgium, Turkey
Not in clause 2.5, but excluded from Gate’s referral event (checked 14 October 2026)
Good to know: Never use a VPN or someone else’s documents to get around these rules. Gate’s User Agreement says only the registered person may use an account (clause 2.2). It tells anyone in a Restricted Location to stop using its services (clause 2.5).
Is Gate a reputable exchange? Pros and cons
It has a long record and publishes reserves, but also past hacks, regulator actions and a long restricted list. We don’t score Gate: this review uses public records, not our own account tests.
Pros
Cons
Running since 2013
Hacked in 2014 and 2015 as Bter.com, losing about 7,000 BTC the second time
117% PoR on 13 September 2026
Gate’s own snapshot, with a named audit from January 2024
Licensed or registered companies in five regions
Unclear which company runs the global platform
0.1% spot fee, or 0.09% with GT
Alpha costs 0.8%, and futures go up to 125x
Up to 135 USDT in welcome vouchers (Rewards Hub, checked 14 October 2026)
Not cash, a 15-day window, and no UK residents
Gate may suit people outside its restricted list who want many products in one account and accept exchange risk.
Note (14 October 2026): this video ties code LAVALAVA to Gate’s Earn Voucher event, but we have not confirmed that LAVALAVA sign-ups qualify. In that event, an invited friend can get up to 100 USDT in token vouchers, and the inviter up to 200 USDT. The friend must pass identity verification, hold a deposit for at least 2 hours and finish trading tasks. Gate pays nothing if either side is a Gate Affiliate, and residents of the UK, Belgium, Turkey and other places can’t take part (Gate referral rules, checked 14 October 2026). Go by Gate’s own rules, not by the video.
How to sign up on Gate with code LAVALAVA
Our Gate referral code is LAVALAVA, meant for Gate’s global platform. If Gate serves your country, type it in the referral code box at sign-up, or use our Gate sign-up link, which carries it. Gate then records our Gate account as your referrer.
No promised fee rebate. LAVALAVA doesn’t change Gate’s fee rates, and we don’t promise any rebate.
No promised event reward. We have not confirmed whether LAVALAVA comes from Gate’s referral program or its separate Affiliate Program, whose invites earn no event rewards.
The Welcome Package is Gate’s own. Our link opens the same 135 USDT package as Gate’s plain sign-up page.
One referral, at sign-up. Gate says each user can sign up through only one referral method (Super Commission rules, September 2026). We found no Gate page on adding a code later.
⚠️ Watch out: When you deposit or withdraw crypto, pick the same network on both sides. The network is the blockchain the coin travels on, such as TRC-20 (Tron) for USDT. Gate warns that a mismatch can lose the funds for good (Gate withdrawal guide, May 2018). Some coins also need a memo or tag, an extra account ID. Send a small test amount first.
What to do next
Check Gate’s Restricted Locations and the regions table above. If Gate serves your country, sign up at gate.com or in the official app, and enter LAVALAVA in the referral code box if you want to support us.
Complete identity and face verification. Then turn on 2FA (a second login code from an app), set a fund password (a second password that confirms trades and withdrawals) and add an anti-phishing code, a word you choose that Gate shows in its real emails.
Start with spot or Convert and a small test deposit on the correct network. Leave futures alone until you understand leverage and liquidation.
More Gate.io review videos
YouTube titles are written for search. The Welcome Package comes from Gate, not from the code.
Mostly yes, with one gap. Gate has run since 2013, and its regional companies hold licences or registrations in the EU (MiCA), the US, Dubai and Japan. But Gate doesn’t say which company runs its global platform. Its record includes hacks in 2014 and 2015 under its old name, Bter.com, and regulator actions in New York and India.
Is Gate.io safe?
No exchange is free of risk. Gate’s 13 September 2026 Proof of Reserves showed 117% of user balances, but it is Gate’s own snapshot, not insurance. Turn on 2FA, set an anti-phishing code and keep only what you can afford to lose. Futures with leverage can wipe out your margin.
Is Gate.io a scam?
No. Gate has run since 2013, its regional companies hold licences, and it publishes reserve data. Its record still includes hacks, an outage and regulator actions. Gate warns about fake staff and unofficial apps: its staff never ask for your password or SMS code. Never send crypto to anyone who says it will “activate” a bonus.
Is Gate.io a Chinese company?
It began in China in 2013 as Bter.com, and in 2018 it told New York’s Attorney General it was based mainly in China. Today Mainland China is on its Restricted Locations list, and its global User Agreement follows Panama law. Its licensed or registered companies sit in Malta, the US, Dubai, Japan, Australia and the Bahamas.
Gate.io vs Binance or OKX: which is better for beginners?
It depends on your country and needs, and we don’t rank them. Gate and Binance charge a 0.1% base spot fee, and OKX 0.08% / 0.10%. All three send US residents to separate US services. Gate and OKX hold MiCA licences in the EU, while Binance had none as of October 2026. First check that the exchange serves your country.
Can I use Gate.io in the USA?
No. The US is on the global platform’s Restricted Locations list. US residents can use Gate US, Inc., a separate company registered with FinCEN and licensed to move money in 37 US jurisdictions. Check that your state is listed, and never use a VPN to reach the global site.
What does code LAVALAVA give me?
Nothing extra that we can promise. LAVALAVA records our Gate account as your referrer, with no promised fee rebate. Gate’s 135 USDT Welcome Package is its own program, and our link shows the same package as the plain sign-up page. We have not confirmed that LAVALAVA sign-ups qualify for Gate’s invite events.
Every figure here links to its source, and Gate’s were re-checked on 14 October 2026.
Crypto prices move fast and you can lose money. This guide is for education, not financial advice. See our disclaimer.
