Exclusive interview with Bitget CEO Gracy: Be wary of leverage risks and embrace user needs are the key to the survival of crypto projects

# Interview: Tong, PANews  

# Editor: Yuliya, PANews  

On the occasion of Bitget’s 7th anniversary, Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, sat for an exclusive interview, delving into the cutting-edge trends and future prospects of the crypto industry. The conversation covered Bitget’s core strategy—the "UEX" (Universal Exchange) concept for a "panoramic exchange," which aims to break down barriers between traditional finance, centralized trading, and decentralized trading. Gracy shared how Bitget is adapting to shifts in market focus to seize new opportunities in areas like RWA (Real-World Assets) and AI, and outlined the future empowerment path for BGB, the core asset of Bitget’s ecosystem. Additionally, she offered unique insights on topics such as the challenges faced by crypto-native projects, how professionals from traditional industries can successfully transition into Web3, and the unique advantages and opportunities for women in the crypto industry.  

## UEX: Breaking Boundaries to Define the Future Form of Exchanges  

**PANews**: Hello Gracy, thank you very much for this exclusive interview, and congratulations on Bitget’s 7th anniversary! To mark the occasion, Bitget has introduced a new concept—"UEX"—positioning itself as a "panoramic exchange." Who proposed this concept? UEX aims to break the "impossible trinity" between CEX (Centralized Exchanges), DEX (Decentralized Exchanges), and traditional finance. Could you elaborate on this concept? Do you believe UEX represents the future form of exchanges?  

**Gracy**: The UEX concept is the crystallization of collective wisdom from our team. UEX stands for "Universal Exchange." In the past, the industry has been accustomed to classifying exchanges into two binary categories: CEX and DEX. Over the past few years, Bitget has made in-depth layouts in both areas. In terms of trading volume, Bitget Exchange has firmly ranked among the top 3 globally; in terms of user ecosystem, it also ranks among the top 2 worldwide. In the field of decentralized wallets, our Bitget Wallet and OKX Wallet are generally regarded as the two leading players in the exchange-backed wallet track.  

Through operating in both sectors simultaneously, we’ve realized that their essence is still trading. While the user needs they satisfy differ slightly in terms of user profiles and scenarios, there are often close connection points. For example, we also offer products like Bitget Onchain (a on-chain product) within our centralized exchange.  

A more important aspect of proposing the UEX concept is our belief that the future will involve not only the integration of CEX and DEX, but also the integration of tokenized traditional assets (RWA). In the future, we aim to launch various products such as tokenized stocks, tokenized commodities, and even tokenized foreign exchange. The trading platforms of the future will no longer be a binary world, but will achieve "full asset coverage"—any asset, once tokenized and existing on-chain, can be traded. We don’t believe the industry’s development should be limited to altcoins or crypto itself; it is breaking down the boundaries between traditional finance and crypto, while also breaking down the boundaries between CEX and DEX. UEX is exactly the concept that encompasses all of this.  

Beyond the breadth of asset coverage, the UEX philosophy also includes product upgrades, especially AI-powered features. For instance, we launched GetAgent, which is likely the most powerful crypto AI tool in the industry today. Just two days ago, I tried asking my GetAgent: "Based on my portfolio and trading habits, guess what my trading MBTI personality is?" It replied that I’m an INFJ—very similar to Warren Buffett—a conservative investor who leans toward fundamental analysis and adheres to the "HODL" (long-term holding) philosophy.  

**PANews**: Another exchange also proposed the concept of CeDeFi (Centralized-DeFi) today, which I think shares similarities with your UEX. Do you believe UEX will be the ultimate form of future exchanges?  

**Gracy**: Yes, it will. In my open letter for the 7th anniversary, I mentioned that UEX is not just the future of crypto exchanges—all centralized exchanges will move in this direction. As you mentioned, OKX has also announced support for full on-chain asset trading, and I even posted a tweet welcoming them to join the UEX movement. I believe DEXs will also start offering better services in the future, such as 24/7 customer support—a strength that was once unique to CEXs, while DEXs have traditionally been weaker in this area. This kind of integration is inevitable.  

What’s even more interesting is that we should look at more traditional trading platforms, such as NASDAQ. Two pieces of news are worth noting: In March this year, NASDAQ announced it was working to offer 24/5 trading to cover investors in the Asian time zone; then, just recently in September, they released news stating they are exploring how to put their entire trading system on-chain, leveraging blockchain technology to achieve faster, cheaper, and 24/7 trading.  

I believe NASDAQ is also moving in this direction, and they will join the UEX movement in the future. Because in our definition, UEX represents a trading platform that is faster, more powerful, offers more products, and uses blockchain technology to create the best experience for users.  

## Adapting to Market Shifts: Bitget’s New Growth Engines  

**PANews**: In the previous market cycle, Bitget achieved rapid growth in users and assets by leveraging its strengths in derivatives and a flexible listing strategy—that was your past growth engine. So, what do you think will be the next growth engine? Will it be the tokenization of traditional assets (RWA) you just mentioned?  

**Gracy**: I believe it will be everything encompassed by the UEX concept. On one hand, RWA (tokenization of traditional assets) is definitely a huge incremental segment, as it will attract a large number of traditional investors to enter the crypto space. During this bull-bear transition cycle, we’ve seen that the pricing power of crypto assets is gradually shifting from retail investors, miners, exchanges, and project teams to Wall Street. This group is exactly who we aim to serve now. While we don’t offer U.S. stocks directly like NASDAQ does, we still have strong competitiveness by tokenizing top tech stocks and putting them on-chain. We have already implemented 24/5 trading—faster than NASDAQ’s planned rollout by the end of next year. Additionally, we pioneered U.S. stock index contracts, supporting over 20 top U.S. stocks including Apple and Tesla, with leverage of up to 25x—a service that traditional finance still struggles to provide. The advantage of crypto exchanges lies in being faster, bolder, and more precise.  

On the other hand, I believe AI will also be a core growth driver. Currently, many users still only use AI for information collection, or as I mentioned earlier, as a "crypto doctor" for analysis. But our GetAgent can directly execute trades. You can ask the Agent to formulate a strategy, execute it, or execute it after you modify it. I believe this model of using AI Agents to place trades will drastically change users’ trading habits within the next 1–3 years. These are all the incremental opportunities I can see.  

## The Future of BGB: Payment Scenarios and Ecosystem Empowerment  

**PANews**: As the core asset that runs through Bitget’s entire ecosystem—from trading and wallets to public chains—BGB is naturally a top concern for everyone. Currently, competition in public chains and wallets has become fierce. What plans does Bitget have for public chains (such as Morph) and derivative DEXs? How will you empower BGB in the future?  

**Gracy**: To drive BGB adoption—or more precisely, to address the widely concerned issue of BGB’s price growth—we recently made an important strategic positioning: establishing BGB as the ecosystem token of the Morph public chain. Some users have referred to this as a "trinity" of exchange, wallet, and public chain. Previously, the market speculated whether Morph would issue its own token, but now we have clearly told the market: Morph will not issue a separate token; it will directly use BGB.  

At the same time, Bitget Exchange and Bitget Wallet have never stopped empowering BGB. For example, in our recent "Divine Mine" campaign, users can earn Launchpool rewards with an APR of over 200% by staking BGB or official project tokens. This type of empowerment is something we have been doing and will continue to do in the future.  

Returning to Morph Chain, its development focus will be more on payments and stablecoins. We’ve had many internal discussions: Beyond trading, what will be the next killer application in the crypto industry? We believe that after Bitcoin and various currency trading, the second killer application will be stablecoins and payment scenarios. Especially in cross-border transactions and remittances, payments have the potential to become a massive market far exceeding the exchange business.  

The UEX concept aims to position exchanges as future "super entry points." In the past, decentralized wallets also aspired to be such entry points, but we believe that given the current level of technology and user experience, exchanges clearly have more advantages in taking on this role. So how should wallets like Bitget Wallet be repositioned?  

This is why we have placed payments in a very important strategic position—both Bitget Wallet and Morph Chain are making layouts around the payment sector. While we have no plans to issue our own stablecoin for now, we have established in-depth cooperation with many leading stablecoin projects: from early partnerships with USDT/USDC, to recent support for USDe (we were one of the first exchanges to support Ethena), and investments in some new stablecoin projects. We hope to leverage Morph Chain to strongly support the application of these stablecoins in scenarios such as cross-border payments.  

## Industry Polarization: The Way Forward for Crypto-Native Projects Lies in Returning to User Needs  

**PANews**: We’ve seen that the industry now seems to be in a state of "extremes": On one hand, RWA and stablecoins led by traditional institutions are developing rapidly; on the other hand, many crypto-native projects—such as some L2s, DApps, and blockchain games—are struggling. How do you view this situation? What do you think is the way forward for crypto-native projects?  

**Gracy**: First, I must admit that many projects are addressing "fake needs." We won’t name specific tracks, but almost every track has two types of teams: those that are truly working hard and thinking about how to provide better products and services for users, and those that are inherently disconnected from real value and address what I consider to be "fake" needs.  

For example, GameFi is currently facing significant challenges. I have personally invested in some GameFi projects and funds, and their performance has been very poor—it’s indeed a difficult field. I believe that if a project is already operational, it must return to and focus on users’ real needs. If you’re a GameFi project, you must think about the playability of the game itself, not just design a pure mining model.  

I once wrote an article published on CoinDesk criticizing "Tap-to-Earn" models like StepN. I believe such ecosystems are extremely unhealthy because project subsidies are unsustainable. And if your so-called "game" product lacks even basic playability, leaving users with nothing but "tapping" to earn rewards, it loses its inherent value.  

Therefore, whether it’s investing in or participating in projects, I think we need to rely on common sense. There may be a lot of short-term speculation, but if a project lacks fundamental support and truly excellent user experience, it will struggle to create long-term value in this industry. Investors may eventually be manipulated by project teams in "Pump and Dump" schemes, becoming victims of exploitation. From a probabilistic and big data perspective, things without real value are ultimately unsustainable. For users, they should focus on fundamentals; for project teams, they must meet users’ real needs.  

## Advice for Cross-Industry Transitioners: Find the Right Direction and "Close Deals" with Purpose  

**PANews**: Many professionals from traditional industries now want to enter the Web3 field. You yourself successfully transitioned from an outstanding media professional to Bitget’s CEO, having been quickly promoted from Managing Director. As a successful "veteran" in this transition, what experiences and insights can you share with those looking to enter the industry?  

**Gracy**: Let me first correct one detail: My career in media was a decade ago. Between then and joining Bitget three and a half years ago, I was an entrepreneur in the Web2 space—one of my projects was in Fintech, and the other was in VR/Metaverse. In fact, both are somewhat related to what we do now. When I joined Bitget, my position was Managing Director.  

As for advice for newcomers: First, anyone with talent and expertise can find their place in the crypto industry. Whether you’re a CFA with knowledge of traditional finance, someone working in the arts, or someone skilled in Web2 operations and marketing like me, you can smoothly enter this field. So the first point is to bravely take this step—and you should choose the Web3 industry. Why? Because it’s a sunrise industry full of new opportunities and in desperate need of talent. When you join a company, never choose a sunset industry—no matter what you do there, it may end up being in vain.  

Second, after entering the industry, learn to quickly acquire new knowledge and engage in truly meaningful networking. I recently released a "Token2049 Conference Guide" because I saw many people networking just for the sake of networking. My advice is: Don’t just "network"—instead, aim to "close deals." You shouldn’t just think, "I want to take a photo with Gracy"; instead, you should think, "How can I do business with Bitget?" or "How can I make Gracy remember me among the 100 people she meets today?"  

This "sense of purpose," in my view, is a very positive trait. If you have no purpose, you’re wasting each other’s time. Of course, if someone just wants to take a photo, I’ll be happy to oblige—but I’d prefer everyone to approach networking and collaboration with a clear purpose. This also applies to working at any company or project: Develop yourself with purpose, meet partners with purpose, and ultimately deliver results. To sum it up, it’s some down-to-earth advice: Choose the right direction and track, believe in your expertise, and then deliver results. This is also our fundamental principle for selecting talent and partners.  

## The Power of Women: Web3’s Flexibility Is a Unique Advantage for Balancing Work and Family  

**PANews**: We are both women and mothers, carrying not only the pressure of work but also the expectations of our families. In an industry dominated by male professionals, would you encourage women to join? Do you believe women can balance work and family? What advantages do they have?  

**Gracy**: On the contrary, I think women have certain advantages in this field. While people joke that crypto has a "bro culture," and coupled with it being a fintech sector—both traditionally male-dominated in the conventional world—women actually have two major advantages here.  

First, precisely because there are more men, as a woman, you can easily stand out. Many people say they remember Bitget because Gracy is the only female CEO among the top 10 exchanges. Because of my gender, I find it easier to step forward and be noticed by everyone. I encourage women not to be shy about leveraging this—we don’t need to wait for others to say "ladies first"; we can take the initiative ourselves.  

Second, the highly flexible working hours in the Web3 industry are something I really appreciate. Last week, there was a typhoon where I live, and my son didn’t have to go to school for three days. If I were in a traditional industry, those three days would have been extremely chaotic for me. But because I can work from home, I was able to spend time with my son between meetings. This flexibility in work hours and location actually allows for a better balance between career and family. Many of my colleagues at the company have seen my son in video meetings, and I think this is a unique and lovely experience as both a mother and a senior executive—an experience that may not be easily achievable in Web2 or traditional finance. I advise everyone to make good use of the cultural characteristics and time flexibility of our industry, turning so-called "threats" into "opportunities."  

## Market Outlook: Corrections Are Entry Opportunities, but Leverage Risks Must Be Guarded Against  

**PANews**: Finally, let’s return to the current industry and market conditions. The market has been somewhat volatile recently—what advice do you have for investors?  

**Gracy**: Of course, the following does not constitute financial advice; it is merely my analysis from an industry perspective. First, if you currently have extremely aggressive long strategies—such as using high leverage or blindly chasing new projects you don’t understand—you may want to consider switching to a more defensive strategy.  

On the other hand, for those who have no crypto assets in their portfolio—such as many family offices or friends from traditional sectors I’ve recently spoken to—this correction actually presents an opportunity to enter the market. If your portfolio has no BTC, ETH, or BGB at all, I would suggest allocating at least 5%, or even up to 20%, to these assets.  

So is the market currently bullish, bearish, or sideways? I believe that from a 5-year long-term perspective, the current level is definitely still a low point. However, in the current phase, is it possible for the market to drop another 20%? I think it’s entirely possible. I tend to believe that the 4-year cycle is no longer as clear as before, and volatility is not as high as it used to be. Because this cycle’s pricing power has largely shifted to Wall Street and institutional investors, which means the price of Bitcoin has a stronger correlation with traditional assets like U.S. stocks—especially the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks.  

Recently, while Bitcoin has declined, U.S. stocks have not fallen in tandem. Therefore, I tend to view this as a minor correction rather than the start of a bear market. That said, even if this is the case, if you’re using extremely aggressive strategies and high leverage, now is a good time to consider reducing leverage and adopting a more defensive stance. Of course, you could also ask our GetAgent for its take.  

## Disclaimer  

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not constitute investment advice on this platform. This platform makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness, originality, or timeliness of the information in this article, nor shall it be liable for any losses arising from the use of or reliance on the information contained herein.