True Markets

True Markets is a crypto trading app and API that never holds your funds. Every market is priced in stablecoins, so you buy and sell in dollars. It began on Solana, and now one account trades Solana and Base tokens, perpetual futures and tokenized stocks. Other apps can also plug it in to offer trading to their own users. The company calls this "one API for digital assets".

The founders came from Coinbase and Circle. Vishal Gupta ran Coinbase Exchange and led USDC at Circle. Patrick McCreary built Coinbase International Exchange. The company is based in New York and has raised $20 million. It has no token.

How True Markets works

True Markets keeps trading and custody apart. That is the idea the company was built on. As Gupta puts it, "exchanges probably shouldn't be holding assets."

Each user gets a wallet. Its keys are created in secure hardware run by Turnkey, so you sign trades without a seed phrase. Firms that need a regulated custodian can use Paxos instead, per the website. Your stablecoins stay in your wallet until a trade settles.

Orders go to one of two places. DeFi orders are routed across on-chain markets. At the 2025 launch, Definitive handled that routing and paid the gas. CeFi orders go to True Markets' own order book. It fills the best price first, then the oldest order at that price, and settles to your wallet on-chain (exchange docs). Since October 2026, API users can pick the venue or let the system choose (changelog).

True Markets app: what you can trade

The iPhone app is the main consumer product, and there is a web app at app.truemarkets.co. The App Store listing (October 2026) lists over 120 Solana assets and over 30 on Base. Robinhood Chain, Arbitrum and Bitcoin have been added since launch. You don't pay network fees, and the trade screen now shows the trading fee. At launch, Fortune reported that the app was aimed at US retail traders.

In August 2026 True Markets added Apple Pay and Google Pay deposits, plus cash-outs. That month it also began limiting trading by country. What you can trade depends on where you are.

True Markets tokenized stocks (NVDAc and TSLAc)

On 30 September 2026 True Markets announced an order book for tokenized stocks. It starts with tokenized Nvidia (NVDAc/USDC) on Base, with Tesla (TSLAc) next. The pitch is a fair price. Gupta says a small market order can lose over 1% in an AMM pool. In his words, "if you buy tokenized Nvidia, you should get Nvidia prices."

The tokenized stocks page describes:

• prices anchored to the real stock, with orders rejected if they stray too far from that reference;
• professional market makers and limit orders;
• best-execution reports;
• on-chain settlement in about five seconds, in PYUSD or USDC, to a self-custody wallet.

It launched for beta clients on the API and FIX. Coverage says it is open to eligible clients outside the US.

True Markets API, Gateway and FIX for developers and institutions

The docs split the API by who is trading:

• Trading API: trade your own account from code, with market, limit and perpetual orders. Perpetuals use isolated margin up to a per-asset leverage cap.
• Gateway: lets fintechs, brokerages and wallets offer trading, payments and custody to their users through one integration. The Gateway page quotes 20 basis points on trading, free up to $250K of volume, and says KYC, AML and sanctions screening are built in.
• Institutional: direct access to the order book over REST, WebSocket or FIX, under principal, omnibus agency or fully disclosed account models.
• Market data: prices, candles and order books, no account needed.

Developers get TypeScript and Python SDKs and a tm command-line tool. MCP servers let AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor trade too. There is no test mode, so every trade uses real money.

True Markets fees

The order book is free to trade on for now, per the fee schedule. Apps using Gateway pay 0.2% per trade once past the free tier. Since September 2026, every API quote shows the fee before you trade. Fees vary by product and can change, so check the quote.

True Markets outcome markets (coming December 2026)

In October 2026 True Markets opened a waitlist for outcome markets. These are bets on whether a price closes up or down, starting with Bitcoin. Per the outcomes page, the winning side pays $1. Each market opens with an auction rather than at even odds. Launch is planned for December, for API traders first.

Is True Markets safe?

• Custody: True Markets says it never holds client assets. Keys are generated through Turnkey, so the main dependency is Turnkey and the account login (passkeys). That is safer than leaving funds on an exchange, but it is not the same as holding your own seed phrase. Check what recovery options you have before depositing much.
• Audits: we found no published smart-contract audit. The website cites SOC 2-aligned controls, which is an operational standard, not a code review. Compass lists no on-chain programs for True Markets, so there is no upgrade authority for us to check.
• Regulation: True Markets runs its own order book and works alongside regulated partners such as Paxos. Its products, especially tokenized stocks, are limited by jurisdiction.
• Tokenized stocks: NVDAc and TSLAc are tokens tracking a share price, not shares registered in your name. Gupta has said the tokenized-equity landscape covers "a clear spectrum" from direct exposure to derivatives, so check what the token you buy actually represents.
• Impostor tokens: on 30 September 2026 True Markets warned that fake tokens using its name are circulating: "We have no token." Tokens called TRUE or TRUEX on screeners are not affiliated with it. Its official X account is @truemarketsco.
• Track record: the company is young and venture-funded. Its tokenized-stock and perpetuals products are weeks or months old.

Who True Markets is for

True Markets suits two groups. The first is active traders who want one app or API across Solana, Base and other chains, with everything counted in dollars. They need to be happy with keys held through Turnkey. The second is fintechs and brokers. They can add crypto or tokenized-stock trading without building custody, compliance and routing themselves.

It is a poor fit if you want a wallet you fully manage yourself, or a test mode before trading. Its tokenized stocks are for eligible clients outside the US.

True Markets vs Jupiter, Coinbase and other alternatives

• Solana DEX aggregators such as Jupiter: fully self-custodied, wallet-agnostic and deeper in long-tail Solana tokens. True Markets adds a dollar-first app with no gas to pay, one account across several chains, and an order book for tokenized stocks.
• Coinbase and other centralised exchanges: bigger order books and fiat banking, but the exchange holds your assets. True Markets' central claim is that execution and custody should be separate.
• Other tokenized-stock venues: Kraken offers more than 50 tokenized US stocks and ETFs in some non-US markets (Finance Magnates). True Markets lists far fewer stocks but competes on price protection and order-book execution.

True Markets funding, team and history

• September 2024: TrueX launched with a $9 million seed round from RRE Ventures, Reciprocal Ventures, Paxos, Accomplice Blockchain, Hack VC, the Solana Foundation and Aptos. PayPal USD (PYUSD) was the default settlement currency (press release).
• May 2025: an $11 million Series A, co-led by Accomplice and RRE Ventures with Reciprocal, Variant and PayPal Ventures, took total funding to $20 million. The Solana-only iPhone app launched the same day (press release). True Markets gave a lightning talk at Accelerate 2025.
• August-September 2026: the API added on- and off-ramps, region-based access, Robinhood Chain support and a unified transactions feed.
• September-October 2026: tokenized stock order books launched, and the outcome-markets waitlist opened.

The team is based in NoHo, New York.