Bitget to upgrade BGB on Morph blockchain as native gas and governance token

Bitget said it will upgrade its exchange token, BGB, to the native asset of the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain, Morph, where it will serve as both gas and governance, while preserving all existing exchange utilities, such as fee discounts and Launchpool access.

The “exclusive strategic partnership” aims to push BGB on-chain and broaden its role beyond the exchange. Morph, meanwhile, highlighted Bitget and Bitget Wallet’s combined 120 million users as a distribution channel while promising performance upgrades, faster settlement, and a push into consumer “PayFi” use cases.

Morph touts itself as a consumer-oriented Layer 2 network designed to lower costs and speed settlement for retail-style dApps. As of today, Morph holds roughly $18 million in total value locked, according to DefiLlama.

As part of the shift, 440 million BGB tokens, worth approximately $2.3 billion and governed by Bitget, were transferred to the Morph Foundation. Of that amount, 220 million tokens were destroyed immediately, and the remaining 220 million is locked with a 2% monthly unlock for liquidity, ecosystem, and education initiatives, the crypto exchange said on X.

The Morph Foundation will also revise BGB’s burn mechanics to link reductions to onchain activity with a long-term target of shrinking total supply from 1.1 billion to 100 million. Trading on Bitget and in Bitget Wallet will continue to support BGB through the transition, the team added.

Karry Cheung, CEO of Bitget Wallet, also said to expect more collaborations between both projects over the next year. "Over the next 12 months, we will see an acceleration of BGB migration onto Morph Layer and deeper partnerships between Morph and Bitget Wallet."

Bitget describes BGB as a utility token launched on Ethereum in 2021 that powers trading fee discounts, Launchpool access, and staking programs. The exchange has previously executed large burns and adopted a recurring buyback-and-burn policy tied to activity, promising to cut total supply by 40% with quarterly burns.

Price reaction was positive following the Morpho partnership news. BGB rose about 15% intraday after the announcement, according to The Block’s price page.