Reality, the tokenization platform that brings publicly listed equities onchain as part of the Bitget ecosystem, has partnered with Merkl to identify eligible rToken holders whose tokens are deployed across supported DeFi protocols. The arrangement allows holders to continue receiving dividends in stablecoin even when their tokens are put to work in DeFi rather than sitting idle in a wallet.

Merkl traces rToken holders behind DeFi smart contracts

rTokens provide tokenized exposure to publicly listed stocks and ETFs, along with eligible economic benefits such as dividends. When these tokens are deposited into lending markets, liquidity pools, or staking contracts, the smart contract—not the individual user—typically appears as the holder onchain. That makes it harder to determine who should receive the associated dividend distributions. It is a familiar challenge across DeFi, where reward programs have to look past surface-level holders to reach the real users behind pooled positions.

Merkl's reward forwarder technology addresses this problem by tracing token positions through supported smart contracts, identifying the underlying holders, and allocating distributions according to the applicable rules. The system can account for multiple layers of DeFi contracts as well as protocol-specific fees. Users and developers can check whether individual contracts are supported through the Merkl Studio Forwarder Scan tool.

"The challenge with assets held in DeFi is knowing who sits behind each position," said Pablo Veyrat, CEO and Co-founder of Merkl. "Our forwarder technology traces ownership through nested smart contracts and tells Reality exactly who holds what, so dividends can reach the right people wherever their tokens are deployed."

"Tokenized equities should be useful beyond trading," said Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget. "If someone puts their rTokens to work in DeFi, they should still be able to receive the dividends they're eligible for. Working with Merkl helps us address that challenge and makes tokenized equities more practical for everyday use."

Reality manages entitlements while Merkl handles forwarding

Under the partnership, Reality continues to manage rToken issuance and dividend entitlements, while Merkl supplies the reward forwarding infrastructure used to identify eligible holders across supported DeFi positions.

Reality's rToken model distributes eligible cash dividends separately from the token's price, with net cash dividends generally settled in USDT. Distribution through DeFi remains subject to the supported contracts and the applicable distribution rules. Which DeFi venues end up covered, and at what contract depth, is the operational detail to watch as the arrangement develops.

rToken adoption extends from exchange trading into DeFi

The partnership builds on growing adoption of rTokens within Bitget's UEX ecosystem. According to a DeFiLlama report, rToken trading volume reached $1.16 billion in cumulative volume between June and July, while the number of users trading both crypto and rTokens grew 23.54% month over month in July 2026, pointing to rising demand for tokenized equities as part of broader, cross-asset strategies.

The integration with Merkl supports the next stage of development, helping extend the use of tokenized equities beyond exchange-based trading into DeFi.