An interview series spotlighting global tech influencers, disruptors, visionaries, and of course, innovators.
Paris Blockchain Week 2023 has officially launched! Today’s lineup focuses on Web3 as a commercially viable option, choosing the right tech, connecting wallet flows, implementing payments, digital asset ownership and metaverse. Over the next few weeks the Innovators series will focus on PBW Innovators.
Let’s begin with the formidable Gracy Chen! Since joining Bitget last year, Managing Director Gracy Chen has overseen Bitget’s growth and expansion of global markets, strategy, execution, business and corporate development. She has elevated and continues to amplify Bitget’s voice and presence in the broader crypto ecosystem. Before her current role in Cambridge, Mass, the MIT Sloan grad served as CMO for XRSPACE, a VR technology company headquartered in Taipei. She also founded ReigVR in 2017 and co-founded Accumulus in 2015. Formerly an anchor and producer at Phoenix TV’s technology and finance channel, one of the largest media conglomerates in China, Chen has reported on financial news and events extensively, including the World Economic Forum. Chen’s dynamic leadership extends beyond the cryptosphere sphere through her writing and founding SheShapes, a non-profit organization that aims to tackle gender inequality in career development.
I caught up with Chen via email to learn more about her views on the current crypto environment, DeFi, AI, Structured Products, Remittance, NFTs and DEI advocacy. She also discusses why she opted for a career in Web3 and shares candid advice for those entering and rising in the sector. Our interview follows.
EKMH: Boom, bust. Repeat. How has Bitget shifted gears and pivoted during the FTX, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank crises and the tempestuous crypto environment?
Gracy Chen: Bitget has continued to grow during this tumultuous time in the crypto markets. In fact, since the FTX bankruptcy, Bitget saw the largest market share growth and surged into the top three derivatives exchange list - growing market share from 3% to 11% in the derivatives market after the collapse of FTX. Key to this growth has been Bitget’s global expansion plans; our team size expanded more than 5 times last year from 250 at the start of the year to 1300 as of now. Previously, we were focused primarily on the Asian market, but in 2022 we rapidly grew to acquire over 8 million users in more than 100 countries despite such difficult market conditions.
I firmly believe that Bitget’s adoption of top-notch security and protection measures is the key reason behind our continued growth. In times where we are witnessing the high-profile collapse of crypto exchanges and traditional finance institutions alike, customers are seeking security more than ever. Bitget safeguards our users' funds on the platform with a series of security policies, including a $300 million Protection Fund, a Fund Custody service, and our pledge to be fully reserved back by the Merkle Tree Proof of Reserves model.
EKMH: What’s Bitget’s disaster recovery program? How does Bitget utilize cybersecurity to combat constant cyber risks, fraud, scams and security breaches?
Gracy Chen: Protecting our customers' assets is, and always will be, our top priority at Bitget. We have taken a number of steps to ensure our users can maintain peace of mind over their assets. For instance, we have committed to Merkle Tree proof-of-reserves to promote complete transparency and comprehensive asset auditing. Essentially, this means that users can be assured that Bitget holds more than 100% of our users' total assets at all times - right now this figure is around 231% - proving we have the liquidity to withstand Black Swan events.
Furthermore, the Bitget Protection Fund gives our platform an extra layer of resilience against cybersecurity threats. In addition to our proof-of-reserves, the fund shows that we're committed to protecting users’ assets, and that we operate with transparency and integrity.
In terms of cybersecurity, we have implemented these measures:
The wallet security design adopts the most advanced security technology, using trusted execution environments and threshold signature mechanisms, and monitors every transaction in real-time, conducting anomaly detection to eliminate asset trading risks.
The vast majority of user assets are stored offline in cold wallets, and the management of cold wallets adopts multi-signature technology in an offline environment, ensuring security and reliability.
Comprehensive encryption mechanisms ensure data security, whether in storage or transmission.
A sound management system, from development to launch, has undergone a secure development life cycle, with strict system access management and maintenance systems, and regular security inspections.
Lionel Messi: “el crypto partner perfecto”
EKMH: Please discuss current trends and some near future opportunities for innovation, heightened profitability and growth in the ecosystem.
Gracy Chen: As the market is getting better these days, data from CryptoQuant shows that since the new year, Bitcoin open interest on all exchanges has been going up bit by bit, especially after the flagship cryptocurrency breached the US$20,000 mark for the first time since FTX/Alameda incident.
BGB was one of the rare tokens to have recorded its all-time high in Q4 2022 at US$0.23880 on October 21 and it constantly accomplished new, amazing achievements: four consecutive weeks of new highs from US$0.22185 (January 23 - January 29), US$0.22455 (January 30 - February 05), US$0.39616 (February 06 - February 12) and US$0.51620 (February 13 - February 19).
Aside from development in Bitget and BGB, there are a number of innovations in the industry that I’m excited about. DeFi, AI, Structured Products, Remittance and NFTs are certainly of particular interest, we’re seeing an evolution of the technologies on the market.
Decentralized Finances
Although this is not a new or unknown topic for traders, decentralized finance (DeFi) will become particularly relevant during 2023. After going through three significant insolvency cases in 2022, including Luna, Three Arrows Capital, and Alameda Research, the centralized lending business is going through a credibility crisis that is leading people to look for alternatives better suited to their needs, causing the demand for decentralized lending to increase considerably.
DeFi will also receive a significant boost from the confidence it will gain in the market through the security of its operations and the relative ease with which new capital can be accessed by dispensing with an intermediary.
In this regard, Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD), which are the latest trend in DeFi, are expected to become much more prosperous. And while SSV, SD, FXS, and ANKR are some of the projects in this category worth paying more attention to, Lido (LDO) has already caused the price of LSD category tokens to rise significantly.
Structured Products
Financial products may become increasingly sophisticated, with complex instruments emerging regularly, which is why numerous structured products have emerged that abstract complexity to maximize risk-adjusted returns.
Yield optimizers are the most popular type of structured products at DeFi. They aim to maximize return with minimal loss of principal and typically include an auto-compensation feature. SharkFin, a principal-protected CeFi structured product often sold by CEX, would be a potential investment target assuming the bear market can last into 2023.
NFT sector and Metaverse
Currently NFTs are on their way to becoming an integral part of GameFi and the entertainment market, particularly after the big push they received in 2022 from movie studios and record labels launching their own NFTs.
The sector will therefore accelerate its development during 2023, as will the metaverse, which will receive special attention after big brands have begun to integrate their products and services into the meta world.
Financial sector institutions such as stock exchanges, banks, and credit companies will also provide their services to virtual users, which will entail some changes related to the regulation and control of activities in the metaverse.
Artificial Intelligence in Web3 space
The prosperity of ChatGPT contributed to the increase of AI category token prices, such as FET, NMR, and others.
AI technology will play a non-negligible role in promoting blockchain infrastructure construction and more imaginative innovation and development in terms of computing power, data, graphics and many other fields.
What is more, Immutable CTO thought that OpenAI would lead to better art and narration in Web3 games. It is worth looking forward to how AI technology will affect the development of blockchain applications in the long-term future.
Remittance
Finally, we will talk about the remittances - sending money home by Latin American immigrants to their countries of origin. Although this is a deep topic that requires a detailed analysis in an article of its own (we will probably do it in the future), we can advance that remittances will be of great importance for the adoption of the crypto ecosystem in places like Mexico, Argentina, or some other countries in the region.
And the fact is that, while it is true that Latin America presents certain socioeconomic and cultural homogeneity, it is also true that there are great differences between each of the nations, making the adoption of cryptocurrencies occur unevenly. For example, while people living in countries with larger and more advanced economies use cryptocurrencies to save and earn profits, people living in countries with developing economies use these digital assets to send money due to the immediacy they present, in addition to other facilities. For that reason, it makes sense that the overall remittance market reached a value of USD 150 billion in 2022 within the region, with Mexico being a special case because its proximity to the United States could make it the largest cryptocurrency remittance corridor (The 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index: Chainalysis). Starting from that point, it is necessary to recognize the needs of each market to identify the trends that will become more relevant during 2023 and generate strategies that gain people's trust.
EKMH: Why did you opt for a career in Web3? What advice would you give to those entering and rising in the sector?
Gracy Chen: I have always had an interest in emerging technologies, and I found an inclusive environment in Web3 to explore this passion, working with teams which were at the forefront of breaking-edge technology. Unlike traditional finance, the world of Web3 was a much more inviting space for a person of my background.
I would advise young people who are new to this industry to develop a "Web3 mindset." This may sound abstract, but the biggest inspiration I got after entering the industry is "to keep myself agile and have a keen sense of the space," which helps me make decisions in an insightful and logical way, without being influenced by the mass in these information explosion days. Being able to see through the causes behind FUDs and FOMOs, making reasonable attribution, and finding the key elements of the trends are the necessary logical upgrades in order to become a builder in the ecosystem.
It is also important to note that thinking is an insight produced by observation and there is no standard answer. In the fast-changing world of blockchain, today's insights may not be applicable tomorrow, so we need to immerse ourselves for a long time to find those universal and unchanging truths through practice and reasoning. In addition, we need to develop our own core competencies, as everyone is different. Many people may not realize that “you are paid not by how hard you work, but by how hard you are replaced.”
EKMH: Bitget is a female-friendly crypto firm with about 40% of the managers being female. What concrete steps can be taken to increase DEI and encourage women take on more C-level roles?
Gracy Chen: At Bitget, we prioritize diversity in our recruiting process and work to ensure our corporate culture is inclusive. Most importantly, we believe in the multiplier effect – with additional female leadership adding a positive, quantifiable increase in performance. Supporting diversity and inclusion within an organization is not a role that should be siloed into Human Resources, rather, it should be a priority at the highest levels of an organization. And who better to drive progress on this front than a group of individuals from different backgrounds and perspectives?
For organizations looking to improve DEI, my first suggestion would be to look within your organization and provide greater support to current employees from minority backgrounds, nurturing that talent so that experienced and qualified individuals can be promoted to managerial and C-level roles. These individuals can also provide valuable insight into how to improve the overall pipeline of diverse talent from the recruit process to professional development, tailoring this strategy to the needs of your organization.
Two trailblazers: Bitget MD Gracy Chen interviews Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh.
EKMH: Finally, which books, films and/or podcasts top your list?
Gracy Chen: Books that I enjoy reading:
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari: A fascinating exploration of the history of humankind. Harari's writing is engaging and accessible, making complex concepts easy to understand. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of humanity, and it highlights the significant role women have played in shaping our world.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: It tells an epic love story spanning more than half a century, exhausting all possibilities and shapes of love. Marquez's writing is lyrical and poetic, and his female characters are deeply human and relatable. This book is a classic that has stood the test of time, and it reminds us of the enduring power of love and resilience in the face of adversity.
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir: A groundbreaking work of feminist theory that challenges traditional gender roles and celebrates the contributions of women to society. Beauvoir's writing is incisive and powerful, and her arguments remain relevant and thought-provoking today. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in gender equality, and it inspires women to continue fighting for their rights and freedoms.
A special mention has to go to this year’s Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All at Once. Having once interviewed Michelle Yeoh on the red carpet, seeing her success at this year’s event was a proud moment!
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this series are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
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