UMX, or The Unified Market Exchange, has opened an invite-only public beta for a platform designed to bring crypto trading and real U.S. securities onto one venue for professional investors. Incubated by Avenir Group, the project is pitching a model in which users can move between digital assets and equities without maintaining separate brokerage, custody and settlement setups, with the broader goal of improving cross-asset capital efficiency. The beta includes crypto spot, margin, futures and options, as well as real U.S. stocks, ETFs and U.S. stock options. UMX has said users can convert stablecoins such as USDT into USD for securities accounts, pledge non-stablecoin crypto assets to obtain buying power for stock and ETF trading, and convert securities holdings into stock tokens that can count toward crypto-account margin under platform discount rules. It has also introduced a cross-asset margin framework and launched BTC and USDT yield products during the beta with maximum annualized yields of 2.5% and 5.5%, respectively. The launch comes as more institutional investors treat Bitcoin and equities as linked exposures within global macro portfolios, though the invitation-only rollout and limited public detail on clearing, custody and licensing underscore the regulatory and operational hurdles facing platforms that blend securities and digital assets.