Author: Gracy & Vernacular Blockchain
In recent years, the crypto industry has made great progress. While constantly breaking through technical bottlenecks and implementing applications, the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs has also marked the maturity of the crypto industry and its move towards the global mainstream. In fact, there is another sign of whether the technology sub-industry is mature, that is, the proportion of female participants and female leaders. This year, the leading companies in the crypto industry have welcomed another beautiful leader, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen.
Gracy Chen, known as the "Web3 Inspirational Goddess" and "Crypto Wonder Woman", has extensive experience in the crypto industry. Bitget, which she is currently at the helm of, is a "dark horse" crypto CEX and Web3 platform that has quickly jumped into the top 5 in the world in recent years.
Vernacular Blockchain conducted an exclusive interview with Gracy Chen, and took this opportunity to get to know this emerging female CEO of a leading crypto ecosystem platform, and listen to her share her personal growth, Bitget progress, and unique insights into the crypto industry.
When it comes to Bitget, people familiar with it know that it is a breath of fresh air in the industry. In just a few years, the user base, team size, and business scope have all expanded rapidly. Many companies choose to shut down during the bear market because they often get "twice the results with half the effort" during this period, but Bitget chose to calm down and "build" against the current during the bear market. The values behind the team are invaluable. Bitget has not only withstood the test of business operation growth, but has also maintained a record of zero safety accidents for 6 years. It has been meticulous in the face of major challenges in the industry, reflecting the platform's top risk control and its emphasis on user asset security.
Such a platform with strong comprehensive competitiveness is inseparable from the efforts of the team, the management and decision-making of the helmsman. Of course, there must be a lot of work and challenges behind it. How did they accomplish it? In the interview, Bitget's new CEO Gracy Chen gave us a detailed analysis of Bitget's business operations, team building, and corporate culture. At the same time, he conveyed Bitget's emphasis on Chinese-speaking users and revealed Bitget's future layout and plans.
Taking this exclusive interview opportunity, we also asked Gracy Chen, a leader at the top of the crypto industry ecosystem, about industry opportunities, bull market trends, and the impact of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs on the industry, and other issues that the community is concerned about, providing everyone with profound insights from a top perspective.
See the full interview transcript below:
1. You joined Bitget in 2022 and were recently appointed CEO. It has been almost two years now. Gracy, can you share how you got here? Have you encountered any challenging and impressive problems?
Gracy: I joined the company in April 2022, and made the official announcement in June. Soon after, I encountered a series of events such as the collapse of Luna/Terra, the collapse of Celsius and Three Arrows Capital. It can be said that my timing of entering the market was very unsatisfactory. Therefore, the most profound impression was that during the bear market, the market generally fell, and many well-known cryptocurrency institutions, such as some of the ones mentioned above, experienced financial crises, large-scale layoffs, and even bankruptcy, which challenged my beliefs to some extent.
But experiencing these challenges together with the Bitget team in the bear market also tested and trained us. Looking back over the past two years, this experience has greatly enhanced the cohesion of our team.
In the past two years, we have achieved good results, which are obvious to the market. We have attracted a large number of talents, and the team size has expanded from less than 500 when I first joined to 1,500 now. At the same time, we acquired some high-quality assets at relatively low prices during the bear market, and expanded the company's business from CEX, decentralized wallets, and investment media to incubators and other upstream and downstream related industries in the industry chain, achieving a great expansion.
As for the most difficult issue, it is the company's global development. We have grown from a small team that started in East Asia to a multinational company that now serves more than 100 countries and regions and 25 million users. The needs of these users in various regions vary significantly, not only involving multi-language communication issues, but also related to Each region has different needs for product functions and token selection under different cultural backgrounds. One obvious feeling is that I held a meeting with the heads of each region a few days ago. During the two-hour meeting, more than a dozen regional managers reported. Everyone had a different English accent, including those from the Middle East, The accents of Southeast Asian and European countries are very interesting to me. Looking back when I first joined two years ago, almost all the participants were Chinese speakers. Now when we hold meetings, English accents from all over the world come together. This also reflects the company's globalization process and achievements.
2. In recent years, Bitget's user base has increased fourfold, entering the top five in the world. The expansion of the team should bring great management challenges. How do you manage and motivate the team? Can you share some of your management philosophy?
Gracy: When it comes to team management and motivation, we have an efficient and result-oriented style.
We have drawn on the experience of some large companies, such as the OKR system of Huawei and ByteDance, to strengthen management and promote it globally. The system we use also supports communication across time zones. In addition, we do not advocate upward management or formalism. For example, there is no need to make complicated PPTs when reporting, as long as it can be explained clearly on one page.
In terms of performance, we are result-oriented and will give high-level incentives to team members based on their achievements. In addition, we have full trust. Our current achievements are largely due to our high trust in the regional teams. Although these colleagues have different accents, they go deep into the market, understand market needs, and have established good relationships with local opinion leaders and project parties. Therefore, we delegate power to local teams in many regional decisions, including various marketing plans. At the same time, these decisions require them to bear corresponding responsibilities. For example, they can decide whether a project is worth sponsoring, but they also need to consider the return on investment.
It can be said that on the one hand, we use data and the OKR system to capture actual results, and on the other hand, we delegate power and trust our team. This culture helps us attract and retain talents that match them, thereby achieving more efficient decision-making and management.
3. In the bear market, many trading platforms began to lay off employees, but Bitget was expanding instead (the number of Bitget employees increased from 1,000 to 1,500 last year). Can you talk in detail about the decision-making process of this strategy?
Gracy: Our philosophy on expansion is different from other companies. While other companies are reducing their staff, we are hiring and acquiring assets. This is because we believe that this is a marathon, not a sprint. In this marathon, it is very important to maintain a good rhythm, not just focus on the short-term benefits.
Those who choose to stay in this industry during a bear market are believers and true industry builders, which is consistent with our culture. Moreover, during a bear market, we can obtain top talents, high-quality assets and advanced technologies at a lower cost, thereby widening the gap with competitors.
Now that the bull market has arrived, we are very pleased to see the corresponding results. This also proves that our concept is correct, and the bear market is the golden period for growth and construction.
4. Since its establishment, Bitget has been practicing the Messi-style growth method and wolf culture. As a leader, what values do you emphasize when shaping Bitget's corporate culture?
Gracy: Our core values include customer first, integrity, open communication, and getting results. When recruiting employees, we pay special attention to matching these values.
For example, we value results-oriented, and the base salary for sales positions is relatively low, but the commission is high, and some employees can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. If the candidate for this position pays too much attention to the base salary and ignores the results-oriented, such a person may not be in line with our values. However, for technical and management positions, we have another set of complete OKR and salary evaluation standards.
In the rapidly developing crypto industry, we also advocate lifelong learning, believing that people should not stop at past achievements, but should focus on the present and the future. We do not have strict regulations on employees' working hours, but we have clear training requirements. For example, employees must participate in a certain number of trainings every quarter, such as learning multiple languages, learning communication or other skills. The team also has a research institute to organize the latest industry information for everyone to learn and share together. Such a learning atmosphere allows everyone to maintain a vigorous spirit every day.
Recently, we have also reached a partnership with national athletes in Turkey. Including women's volleyball world champion İlkin Aydın, women's wrestling world champion Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu and European boxing champion Samet Gümüş, these three athletes will represent Turkey in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Although we have previously invited Messi to be our brand ambassador, this expansion of cooperation with outstanding athletes is also to continue to explore the infinite possibilities of sports competition and Web3, and to promote the connection between the crypto industry and the traditional world. These partners also highlight our corporate values. As a marathon runner in the crypto exchange, Bitget always believes that the only shortcut to success is to grasp every tiny improvement, which coincides with the competitive spirit of the athletes. Every step taken is the realization of a great goal.
This is the core value and culture of our team. I am also a practitioner of lifelong learning. After becoming the CEO, I wrote an article about my MBA at MIT after working for nearly 10 years. I was able to achieve this by keeping a high level of concentration on learning every day.
5. From being a host to becoming the CEO of Bitget, a crypto company, and being a mother at the same time, the role change is quite big. Can you talk about the characteristics of your personality that supported your transformation along the way? And, can you talk about the key decision-making process in the middle?
Gracy: Although my career spans a wide range, these are all extensions of my math background. My major is math, and my subsequent career and entrepreneurial experience are all in the emerging technology field. While studying at MIT, I also studied 3D printing, AI, VR and other technologies, and then entered the crypto industry for investment. Whether it is entrepreneurship, investment or hosting a financial program, strong logic and financial knowledge are required, and these are inseparable from a mathematical foundation.
As for important decisions, in my personal life, the most important decisions I have made in the past few years are marriage and divorce, especially divorce. I think marriage should be a relationship of mutual support and energy increase, but when the relationship becomes a relationship of mutual harm and no longer draws nourishment from each other, if I don't want to hurt anyone, then I will choose to end the relationship. This is my understanding of individuals and relationships. Of course, this is a redefinition of our relationship, because we have a child and still need some cooperation.
From a work perspective, I have experienced a failed startup. At that time, the company had already raised funds, but due to market value and later profitability issues, I decided to close the company. It was a very difficult decision. I felt very lost at that stage because I felt that I had let down many people, especially the trust of investors and the team. But now I think that every company has a life cycle. If it can continue, it will continue. If it can't continue, we will try our best to give employees and investors a reasonable explanation, but it was really difficult to make a decision at that time.
These two are considered the most important decisions in my life so far, one is about personal feelings and the other is about career.
I think a large part of the factors that support me in making these decisions are related to my personality and pursuits. I have never been bound by conventions and I like exploration and adventure since I was a child. My adventurous spirit is not only reflected in my work, but also in my life. For example, I am an advanced open water diver, and I like to play skydiving and polo, which are all adventurous sports.
In general, although the journey has not been easy, it has served as nourishment for me, making me stronger and more energetic.
6. What kind of person are you in life? What do you like to do?
Gracy: Maybe my brain is too much on work, but I am actually a bit rough in life. I spend most of my free time with my son, but because of my carelessness, my son often suffers with me. For example, I recently took my son out for a picnic, and I bought a not-so-hygienic cake at a gas station. We both had diarrhea for several days after eating it.
I also like to hang out with friends. I am quite personable and like to interact with people. I also have many friends who work in other fields. Communicating with them can also help me expand my horizons and worldview. But when I am with friends, they often say that I am a "funny girl". A few days ago, when I was with friends, they urged me to have a relationship and asked me what requirements I had. I said that my requirements are not high, just handsome, a little money, and good to me. Then they asked me if I had met anyone who met the requirements recently? I joked that there were quite a few, and they all became gay friends in the end.
Everyone knows that the work intensity in the crypto industry is high, but I think the more so, the more we need to live our lives seriously, draw more energy from life, and feed it back into our work.
7. We have seen relevant information that you have more than 10 years of management, marketing and investment experience, and your resume is also very impressive. I would like to ask what goals you have set in your work and personal life in the past three to five years?
Gracy: My goal is very simple. In my career, I hope to make Bitget one of the top three trading platforms in the world. Although Bitget is already quite large, I hope it can further expand its development scale and even become a super unicorn. Personally, I focus on the harmony of various relationships, such as the relationship between me and my parents, son, friends and lovers. Although I am currently single, I still pursue intimacy. Even as a CEO, I don’t think that work should take up all my time and prevent me from taking care of my personal life or love. I still hope to gain nourishment from these relationships and give value and support. These are my two simple goals. A few days ago, I bought an iPad and an Apple Pencil with "Gracy" engraved on them, a love heart on the left and a unicorn on the right, which just represents my pursuit in work and personal life: to gain nourishment in relationships and to continue to develop in my career.
8. What do you think about the very low proportion of female leaders in Web3 companies in the crypto industry?
Gracy: I have seen relevant data and found that the proportion of women in the executive team is very low, whether it is the founding team of Web3 or ordinary Web3 companies. This is especially true in the venture capital industry. I recently saw a comment saying that I am the only female CEO of the top ten trading platforms in the world, which made me realize that female leaders are very rare in almost all industries.
In fact, I am very concerned about women's career development, especially the disadvantaged position of women in male-dominated industries. I think we need more female leaders. Many times, society has prejudices against women. For example, female leaders are often asked how to balance career and family, which in itself implies that they should devote more to their families. This prejudice not only comes from society, but may also be internalized as a constraint on women. Especially in the field of financial technology, there are not only few women, but also often lack confidence. Therefore, we first need to break these barriers from the inside and enhance our confidence. As the saying goes: an egg broken from the outside is food, but an egg broken from the inside is life. I hope I can help and advocate for women to break some shackles themselves and be more confident. The premise is that we must believe that we can do it.
Therefore, I have been committed to promoting these changes, such as improving these phenomena through the establishment of non-profit organizations and other projects. The charity project "Blockchain for Her" launched by Bitget is to support the development of women in the cryptocurrency industry. We have set up a small fund to support female founders and teams, and selected top female leaders from around the world as mentors to provide collaborative support. In addition, in 2020, I also created an organization called "SheShifts" under the World Economic Forum. This is a non-profit organization that is still in operation today, mainly providing career consulting services, community support and mentor planning for women.
Of course, these thoughts are also related to my personal experience. In the early days of my business, I met a male investor who clearly stated that he was unwilling to invest in female entrepreneurs, especially married women without children. I was married without children at the time, and this experience made me deeply realize the prejudice of society against female executives and founders.
Therefore, I am now able to take some real actions and bring some positive impact to the society. I feel very happy. At the same time, I also look forward to more outstanding female talents joining our industry and making their own contributions to the sustainable development of this industry.
9. Based on your work experience and investment perspective, can you tell us how you view the overall situation of this round of bull market? Many people say that there is no copycat bull market in this round. What do you think?
Gracy: This possibility does exist, because the market is full of uncertainty. Whether the copycat bull market will break out again is difficult to predict. I have discussed the question of whether there is a copycat bull market with many investment institutions before. My personal opinion is this:
First, we believe that the current bull market is different from previous ones in that it is more dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum. Bitcoin is seen as digital gold, and Ethereum is seen as digital oil, and their value positioning is becoming increasingly solid. In addition, both have benefited from the passage of ETFs and the entry of traditional financial forces, which have strengthened their status as a store of value.
Secondly, related to what was mentioned before, the increase in institutional investment is also a change. Institutional investors, especially in the European, American and Asian markets, including various institutions such as pension funds, have become very important. With the passage of ETFs, this type of investor will increase. They are more inclined to invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum rather than high-risk altcoins, or they will tend to invest in some altcoin funds rather than the altcoins themselves.
Changes in the regulatory environment are also an influencing factor. Global regulation of cryptocurrencies is being strengthened, especially the crackdown on ICOs and altcoins. This makes investors more inclined to choose safer and more well-known cryptocurrency projects.
We know that in the past, Bitcoin and Ethereum usually rose first in each bull market, and funds first flowed into these mainstream currencies; then in the middle and late stages, these funds began to overflow and flow into altcoins, and altcoins began to rise. However, as investors develop, they still need to pay attention to the actual application and potential of the project, rather than just speculation and hype. This is the current change in the industry.
Therefore, I personally tend to believe that the altcoin bull market will come, but it will not be as fierce as before, such as the sudden outbreak like the DeFi Summer or the GameFi Summer in the previous year, or the sharp rise and fall like Memecoin not long ago.
10. The approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs has opened a new door for the crypto market. What impact do you think this will have on the centralized trading platform landscape? Compared with ETFs, where is the competitiveness of trading platforms reflected?
Gracy: The launch of ETFs did not take away our market share. On the contrary, it was a good thing for us. It increased market prosperity and user activity, and made the trading platform and ETFs complementary.
When traditional financial institutions enter the market, they may first buy ETFs. But when they want to make more investments, they will find that the types of ETFs are very limited and cannot meet their needs. CEX can provide more trading varieties and underlying assets, which is the first competitive advantage.
The second competitive advantage is trading hours. The trading hours of spot ETFs of Bitcoin and Ethereum are limited, at least they cannot be traded on weekends. CEX is open 24/7 and is more flexible.
The third competitive advantage is that the trading platform is friendly to retail investors. ETFs are suitable for professional traders and institutions, with a high threshold and are not easy to operate.
The fourth competitive advantage is the diversity of products and financial services. If you only buy and sell BTC and ETH, the product is relatively simple. ETF can only do this one thing, but centralized trading platforms provide more diversified products and services, such as financial management, dual-currency investment, leveraged trading, etc.
Therefore, we have a more complementary relationship with ETFs, providing different services to the market. This includes different groups in the same market, such as institutional investors who may buy BTC and ETH in ETFs, but hedge and diversify their investments in CEX.
11. In addition to this, is there anything else you would like to add?
Gracy: The only thing I want to add is that I need to emphasize Bitget's emphasis on Chinese-speaking users. On the global crypto stage, Chinese people are a force that cannot be ignored. We will also seek deeper integration with leading projects and better provide their business lines to users of our centralized trading platform. We hope to provide competitive products for this group.
After I take office, we will carry out some internal reforms, including a more friendly cooperation with market makers and deeper ties with leading project parties. The results of these reforms will gradually emerge in the next few months and even throughout the bull market, so please stay tuned.
