Bitget's Fifth Anniversary: A Messi-Style Victory, the Mysterious Founder, and a Wolf Culture
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Bitget's Fifth Anniversary: A Messi-Style Victory, the Mysterious Founder, and a Wolf Culture
Be one of the 10% who stay after the tide recedes.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsIf you attended Token2049 in Singapore, it was hard not to notice the massive Bitget logo at the check-in counter and the "Messi penalty kick" experience at the Bitget booth.
"How did Bitget actually grow?" "Who is the boss behind Bitget?" "What exactly is the relationship between Bitget and Foresight?" In Singapore, such questions occasionally surfaced. People were deeply curious about this exchange platform born during the 2018 bear market and which had risen strongly again amid the 2023 downturn.
This September marked Bitget's fifth anniversary. Out of mild curiosity, we spoke with several current and former Bitget employees as well as relevant investors, attempting to partially reconstruct the story behind Bitget’s five-year journey.
A Messi-Style Victory
When we talk about Messi, what comes to mind?
Seven Ballon d'Or awards? Leading Argentina to win the World Cup?
Sorry, but lately I can't help associating Messi with Bitget—images flash in my mind of "Messi holding up a phone showing the Bitget app."
In October 2022, Bitget signed a partnership with Messi for over 100 million RMB. On one hand, Messi’s global influence helps Bitget build its international brand; on the other, Bitget’s leadership believes there are strong parallels between Messi and their company—indeed, Bitget’s success today resembles a Messi-style victory.
Growing up eating potatoes and carrots, young Messi suffered malnutrition and at age 11 was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency dwarfism. That day, walking down a cold street with his father, he remained unusually calm despite knowing his family couldn’t afford treatment.
Although later receiving three years of growth hormone injections with support from FC Barcelona, his final height of 1.69 meters still made him look like a “kid easily picked on” among players. Yet as an adult, Messi fused fragility with strength, becoming unmatched on the pitch.
A journalist once asked Messi, “Who are you most grateful to?”
He replied, “Those who underestimated me. Without mockery and disregard, I might have always considered myself a genius. Argentina never lacks talent, but very few truly become useful.”
Bitget’s beginning seemed similar. Founded quietly in May 2018, while everyone else talked about Fcoin or later FTX, no one noticed Bitget slowly growing in the corner.
No celebrity backers, no cultivated founder persona, no massive marketing budget—early Bitget could only work from the ground up, doing painstaking work: “DMing community KOLs one by one, usually met with indifference or ridicule.”
One early employee recalled that when she moved from another exchange to Bitget, people around her questioned: “Why join a ‘small exchange’?”
As Messi said, being underestimated is the destiny of growth.
Messi is almost the player who runs the least on the field. For years, clips of Messi casually strolling across pitches have been turned into comedy reels—their gentle appearance masking his killer instinct.
During one major tournament, Messi ran just five miles in 90 minutes, spending 83% of the time walking, and only 1% sprinting—but still scored one goal and provided one assist.
That’s Messi’s power and intelligence: no unnecessary movement for show, only actions that deliver results—one decisive strike to score.
Famous blogger “Lonely Brain” summarized Messi’s playing style into an abstract “football philosophy”:
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Step 1: Scan the entire field, map out value zones;
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Step 2: Position yourself in high-value areas;
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Step 3: “Hack” into tiny gaps in space and time;
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Step 4: Maximize offensive diversity;
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Step 5: Score the winning goal.
This football philosophy applies not only to individuals but also to businesses—and Bitget has firmly embraced Messi’s approach.
1. Focus limited resources on high-value areas;
2. No matter how large the market campaign, identify the single most critical leverage point;
3. The best leverage points and specific moves often stem from fundamental elements—the key lies in identifying the crux, not piling on complex methodologies.
In 2019, Bitget made a bold decision—to cut its spot trading business entirely and focus solely on futures, transforming into a dedicated contract trading platform. This move concentrated scarce resources on high-value territory. But where to apply force?
Bitget敏锐ly recognized that in the derivatives market, investors needed not just a trading platform but also trading strategies. So they innovated product-wise: launching USDT-margined perpetual contracts in July 2019—the first globally—and pioneering one-click copy trading and hybrid contracts.
Like Messi, Bitget didn’t charge wildly across the crypto pitch. Instead, it held its ground in high-value zones, applying innovation precisely where it mattered most—all in service of results.
KOLs and Overseas Markets
When we asked industry insiders curiously, "How did Bitget rise? What did they do right?"
Most respondents mentioned two things: “Bitget built a vast KOL network—a single KOL can bring over $300 million in trading volume to BG,” and “Bitget’s early rise came from capturing key Asian markets.”
Today, we see Bitget expanding its KOL network beyond crypto circles, attracting many non-crypto influencers. One example is Tsao Yeh, the operator of Taiwan’s YouTube channel “Diary of Shame,” which boasts millions of subscribers.
In 2021, Tsao invested tens of millions into Bitcoin mining, initially profiting before doubling down. But then the market crashed, turning mining operations unprofitable. After two difficult years, Tsao announced closure of the mine.
At his lowest point, Tsao received support from Bitget, co-founding the “Tsao Coin Scholar” incubation center to teach newcomers interested in cryptocurrency.
In September 2023, Tsao received the “Bitget Hero Award” at Bitget’s fifth-anniversary gala.
On stage, Tsao emotionally said, “It’s hard to imagine that someone who fell so hard in mining just a year ago could stand back up again.”
At a blockchain event overseas, we met Kim, a crypto practitioner who used to be a Bitget vendor. He recalled a collaboration incident: due to an accounting error, $500,000 was underpaid. Later, Bitget discovered the mistake and proactively settled the full amount—an act that deeply touched him and led him to recommend Bitget widely within his community.
Yet beneath these glowing numbers, undercurrents may be stirring.
Industry expert King pointed out bluntly: KOLs can bring users, but they can also take them away—this tests whether Bitget can truly retain users.
KOL partnerships often involve human nature and interests. Much like live-stream shopping on short-video platforms, platforms nurture streamers but may suppress them if they become too independent. It's hard for any platform to stop influencers from leaving or starting their own ventures.
Therefore, future conflicts between Bitget and certain KOLs will likely become commonplace.
Founders and Wolf Culture
When we looked inward trying to understand Bitget’s management team and corporate culture, we hit an information barrier—Bitget’s founder remains highly mysterious, having retreated behind the scenes and rarely speaking publicly.
So we turned to current and former Bitget employees and seasoned industry figures. Some avoided the topic, others praised highly. A current employee said she tries hard to avoid direct communication with the top boss; a former employee described the founder as a dominant “capitalist,” strictly result-oriented…
Piecing together these fragmented accounts gradually reveals the founder’s operational style—decisive, swift, and resolute.
This style shaped Bitget’s corporate culture—a company full of wolf spirit.
“Wolf culture” isn’t pejorative here, nor does it mean public perceptions of 996/007 workweeks. Rather, I prefer Ren Zhengfei’s definition of “wolf spirit”:
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First, keen sense of smell: Wolves evolved extraordinary perception and foresight under harsh survival conditions;
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Second, relentless fighting spirit, i.e., organizational heroism;
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Third, “pack mentality”: Unyielding in the face of setbacks.
Wolf culture is rooted in pragmatism and utilitarian principles—results always come first.
“Those who deliver results earn full authority and rewards; those without immediate results must demonstrate effort to gain opportunities; those lacking both results and attitude get eliminated.” So summarized Employee A at Bitget.
Employee A personally endorses this results-driven approach—it allows him to focus purely on work, rewarded based on outcomes rather than wasting energy on upward management, internal politics, or office intrigue, without backstabbing or mutual reporting.
Wolf culture ≠ burnout. It demands results, not meaningless internal competition. He enjoys this simple, direct way of working.
Investor Candy believes Bitget’s internal cohesion is strong—in contrast, another derivative-first exchange struggles severely with management infighting and inefficiency.
Talent
“Huawei doesn’t stockpile dollars, but it stocks talent.” This saying applies equally to Bitget.
Why do people join Bitget?
A simple answer aligned with human nature: “They simply pay too much.”
Reportedly, commissions for Bitget BD staff have no upper limit. During rapid growth fueled by individual efforts, some overseas employees earned bonuses as high as $200,000 in a single month.
“I don’t mind working harder—I fear repetitive, meaningless tasks, lack of achievement, and not earning money,” said Yi, who joined Bitget recently. Compared to previous jobs, Bitget is more demanding, but the “no empty promises, just cash” approach makes him feel his labor is respected.
Yi added that despite the 2023 crypto bear market winter, Bitget still distributed mid-year bonuses to every employee.
Throughout Bitget’s development, key talents played crucial roles—some helped build investment, media, and incubation ecosystems; others drove expansion in overseas markets…
In a Bitget culture handbook shown by an employee, one page specifically outlines the “Talent Strategy”: Respect and empowerment; merit-based appointments; continuous iteration; inclusiveness.
Currently, Bitget employs over 1,500 people worldwide and continues hiring amid ongoing expansion this year.
Another truth about Bitget: it doesn’t刻意 cultivate talent—it selects. Top talent is chosen, not trained.
Expanding the Ecosystem
Beyond rising trading volumes, what’s clearly noticeable today is Bitget’s integrated ecosystem and enhanced brand momentum—driven significantly by its investment arm and media brand Foresight.
According to Bitget’s fifth-anniversary letter, Foresight Ventures has invested in 77 projects including Space and Time, WalletConnect, Sei Network, Gitcoin, and Shardeum, with total investments exceeding $60 million. Foresight X has incubated 12 early-stage projects across AI+Web3, Bitcoin ecosystem, and LSDFi sectors.
On August 10, Web3 multi-chain wallet BitKeep officially rebranded to Bitget Wallet, continuing as a standalone app separate from the trading platform.
Exchange, investments, media, incubation, wallet… Bitget’s ecosystem now spans five major domains. Is something missing?
Perhaps you’ve guessed it—blockchain infrastructure. Based on information gathered at Bitget’s Singapore event, Bitget is actively supporting emerging Layer2 networks, exploring more efficient and secure solutions.
Thus, Bitget advances further—now with six core pillars united.
Finally
On September 11, Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget, released an open letter titled “On Bitget’s Fifth Anniversary — Someone Must Always Gaze at the Stars,” containing two lines particularly striking:
Bitget was born from a unique belief—“to be among the 10% who stay when the tide recedes.”
Unlike exchanges that rise fast and vanish quickly, we are more like marathon runners.
In the crypto industry, success might not be that complicated—just keep running and avoid mistakes, because your competitors will inevitably make errors or exit voluntarily. Marathon runners don’t care about temporary gains or losses; every stride exists for that final moment crossing the finish line.
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