Gracy Chen is managing director of crypto exchange Bitget and judge of Web3 reality show Killer Whales.
by Ciaran Lyons 4 min September 12, 2023
Gracy Chen, managing director of global cryptocurrency exchange Bitget, advised her followers and friends not to scan their eyeballs in exchange for a few Worldcoin tokens.
“There’s a huge privacy concern,” she tells Magazine, adding that she isn’t optimistic about its price prospects given the anticipated influx of WLD tokens in the near future.
“There will be much more released in the upcoming year or two,” she explains.
Chen admits that her gig with Bitget is pretty cool, but it also means her American pals constantly bug her for favors.
“Since we stopped onboarding U.S. customers, I’ve had lots of friends who hold a U.S. passport ask if they can get a little back way to open an account.”
“I refuse a lot of requests like that. It is a red line that we just don’t cross,” Chen says.
Before she started steering strategy at Bitget, Chen worked as an anchor and producer at Phoenix TV’s tech and finance channel, a major player in China’s media scene.
However, a billion-dollar idea came knocking and quickly led Chen away from journalism.
In 2015, she co-founded a tax startup designed for freelancers, and it skyrocketed to unicorn status in just three years.
“It’s a financial tech company. So, what they do is they provide services for freelancers. They serve the freelancers and provide taxation and salary automation services,” she says.
However, one of her proudest achievements was having football legend Lionel Messi join the Bitget team as a partner.
Chen says Messi faced stiff competition from many candidates, but Bitget ultimately selected him due to his paternal qualities and similarities with the exchange.
“He had a good reputation as a father, husband and team leader, and also we kind of see some similarity between Bitget and Messi,” she states.
Chen says that Bitget started in a bear market, and similarly, Messi suffered from growth hormone deficiency when he was young and first starting out in the sport.
“He’s not tall. He is at a disadvantage, so he had a very hard starting point as well.”
What led to Twitter fame?
Chen explains that she discovered her love for Twitter, now X, only after snagging her high-ranking crypto position.
“My Twitter following began in crypto. I guess I wasn’t really active on Twitter when I was a journalist because I was mainly covering the Asian market and reporting in Mandarin,” says.
Chen has a very friendly-natured approach to X, explaining breaking events in broken-down, easy-to-understand threads for her followers.
Curious about the Ripple case?
Let’s simplify:
• It’s a civil case
• It’s NOT criminalHere’s the latest:
• SEC’s appeal needs approvals from courts.
• Permission to appeal ≠ guilt proven.
• Judge Torres’ ruling is current and declares Ripple innocent.
• Successful…— Gracy Chen @Bitget (@GracyBitget) August 21, 2023
However, she observes that her Twitter following surges during the same periods Bitget’s business activity spikes.
“My followers grew during a certain period of time, from the end of last year to earlier this year. That’s a period of time when I see a singularity point where you see exponential growth, and that’s also when we had growth in our company.”
“So, I would contribute my success or any sort of achievement or following number mainly to Bitget’s growth,” she adds.
What type of Twitter content can you expect?
Chen’s Twitter account offers serious variety. You’ll get a glimpse into her jet-setting escapades, and who knows, you might even stumble upon some wild travel inspiration.
But when the crypto world goes haywire — whether it’s lawsuits, exchanges going down or everything in between — Chen serves up honest breakdowns in bite-sized portions.
What type of content do you like?
Chen has mixed feelings about Twitter, thinking it can sometimes become a raucous battleground.
“Twitter is basically a very noisy place. Everyone is changing their opinions and trying to be attention grabbers,” Chen declares.
You open twitter and you see:
– SEC suing this and that
– rumors around projects
– coins dropping in priceFriendly reminder that Twitter isn’t the real world.
Crypto has made a ton of progress in 2023:
— Gracy Chen @Bitget (@GracyBitget) June 12, 2023
She reveals that she enjoys seeing updates from Altcoin Daily and Coin Bureau, but she advises hardcore Crypto Twitter addicts to tear their eyes away from the screen every now and then.
“I would highly recommend anyone who is a heavy user of crypto information on Twitter to spend at least one hour or two away from social media and do fundamental research and talk to a group of trustworthy friends.”
Predictions
Chen firmly believes that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds are on the path to approval, though 2023 might not be the year it happens.
“Not this year — we only have three months left this year. Maybe early 2024,” she predicts.
She hints that it could be a “very good driving force” for the next bull market.
When it comes to Coinbase and Binance’s showdown against the SEC, Chen suggests Coinbase might be in safe waters — but Binance could be in for a rollercoaster.
“I personally think that Coinbase is a pretty well-regulated, U.S.-driven crypto exchange, so the lawsuits might be settled by some fines. As for the SEC vs. Binance, it is much trickier.”
However, she is confident that Binance’s legal warriors will put up a good fight:
“I think they have a very, very big and strong legal team to battle this fight.”
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Ciaran Lyons
Ciaran Lyons is an Australian crypto journalist. He’s also a standup comedian and has been a radio and TV presenter on Triple J, SBS and The Project.
