<\/p>\n
Crypto exchange Bitget has grown significantly despite the challenges brought by the bear market. In 2023, the exchange announced two $100-million funds \u2014 one dedicated to crypto projects in Asia<\/a> and another for maximizing the company\u2019s long-term impact<\/a> in the crypto space.<\/p>\n At the Bitget EmpowerX Summit held in Singapore, Cointelegraph\u2019s Zhiyuan Sun spoke with Gracy Chen, managing director of Bitget.\u00a0The two spoke about Bitget\u2019s growth amid the bear market, pausing its expansion in Hong Kong and the United States, and why they believe that implementing Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols is important for exchanges.<\/p>\n According to Chen, the company grew 10 times its original size in just two years. \u201cFor our company\u2019s employees, we had about 150 two years ago, and right now, 1,500,\u201d Chen said. The executive highlighted that this is a result of their efforts in the past few years and their being driven by results. Chen explained:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe think it\u2019s like running a marathon. So, what we\u2019ve been doing, and if you look at our team, it\u2019s a very operating result-driven team.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Bitget executive also mentioned a lot of their efforts, from branding and product launches to the company\u2019s partnership with soccer superstar Lionel Messi, as some of the reasons for its growth over the past years. \u201cIn terms of the secret sauce, I guess it\u2019s because of these things that we are doing \u2014 we are growing,\u201d she added. At the same time, the growth makes them \u201cfinancially healthy\u201d to do more activities, according to Chen. <\/p>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>Taiwan to restrict unregistered, noncompliant foreign crypto exchanges<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n When asked about the exchanges\u2019 lack of presence in two key markets \u2014 the United States and Hong Kong \u2014 Chen noted that regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. is holding Bitget back from coming in. She said: <\/p>\n \u201cWe want to wait and see how it develops and then make a decision on whether we want to serve the U.S. customers or not. This is something that has always been developing, but I don\u2019t see us serving the U.S. market in the short term.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n When it comes to Hong Kong, Chen said that they\u2019ve already been in talks with the Hong Kong government and are currently in the process of applying for a license in the special administrative region.<\/p>\n