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Why we Invested $30m in DeFi Wallet Bitkeep – Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget
As a cryptocurrency exchange and digital asset trading platform, Bitget has begun to explore new vistas of opportunities as it hopes to collaborate with BitKeep in order to leverage the respective strengths and advantages of Decentralized finance in its global operations. Gracy Chen, Bitget Managing Director, in this interview with Ugo Onwuaso, speaks on why it invested $30 million in BitKeep, among many other issues.
Bitget Managing Director Gracy Chen
Excerpts:
Hi Gracy, good to have you here. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and when did you join Bitget
Formerly, I was an anchor and producer at the technology and finance channel of Phoenix TV, one of the largest Asian media conglomerates. That’s also around the time that some of my friends (who are famous crypto entrepreneurs and investors today such as He Yi, co-founder of Binance, and Tim Draper, whom I studied from when I was at Draper University) introduced me to the crypto industry. In 2014, I started to invest in cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, and XRP, not in huge amounts. I think people should build portfolios with small percentage investment in crypto according to their own experience and risk-tolerance level. And it’s only since 2017, that I started to invest more in the primary and secondary crypto market. For example, I‘ve been an investor in the early days of BitKeep, Asia’s leading decentralized wallet and Bitget’s sister company. So in this journey, I have witnessed the brand’s development and growth throughout the years. Hence, I decided to join Bitget in 2022, changing the role from an investor to a builder.
Can you tell us about the recent Bitget investment of $30 million in BitKeep
The investment is beneficial for both Bitget and BitKeep as they collaborate to connect DeFi and CeFi, leveraging their respective strengths. The integration of BitKeep Wallet with Bitget’s business domain will enhance the exchange’s product offering and expand its business into the wallet sector, providing native storage and asset management services.
Furthermore, BitKeep’s substantial user base of over 8 million in 168 countries will enable Bitget to tap into a new pool of potential clients. Additionally, BitKeep’s impressive range of services, including access to diverse DeFi protocols and NFT projects across various blockchains, will allow Bitget to transform from a prominent derivative exchange into a comprehensive and holistic exchange with a growing ecosystem, thus delving deeper into the Web3 space.
We have seen you giving speeches in different events talking about Bitget flagship product copy trading. Can you tell us more about Social Trading and how Bitget is helping its users with this innovative product? Do you follow any traders on the platform, any tips you want to share
With the vision to increase financial independence, we focus on transforming the way people connect and trade with social trading. We believe in the power of social trading and make it our quintessential feature, allowing us to differentiate among exchanges such as Binance and OKX, offering users valuable services.
High barriers to crypto investment hinder its mass adoption. Copy trading with more social interactions will be the key. Launched in May 2020, Bitget is the first crypto exchange to introduce copy trading features. It now supports copy trading in the spot market, futures market, and copy a strategist. Since its launch, the copy trading feature on Bitget has attracted more than 80,000 elite traders to share their strategies and more than 380,000 followers to copy, making it the largest crypto copy trading platform. As of Jan 2023, the number of profitable trades through Bitget copy trading is over 47 million, with gains from profitable trades reaching 300 million, and profits shared by elite traders reaching USD 20 million.
“Bitget Insights”, is a new feature on our platform, which makes social trading more accessible to everyone. The feature is acting as a mixture of “social media + trading”, and its curated “lead traders” can post their chart analysis, technical strategies, and articles, to share their insights with followers and help them make smarter financial decisions. As of Jan 2023, over 500 trading experts are sharing their crypto market insights on the platform with nearly 10,000 posts generated.
In the future, we will continue to bring innovative products and services, providing more trading strategies and skills for our users and helping beginners to learn more about the industry.
Changing topic, in this period it is inevitable to talk about the banking crisis. How do you see this impacting the crypto industry? What would you suggest to all our readers considering that there might be more banks on the verge of collapse
I think there will be inevitable development in the space after this wave of bank closures. We are living in an increasingly multipolar, interconnected and multicultural world. Since the 1980s, financial institutions and financial markets have no longer been operating within an enclosed geographical space. Instead, we are trading in a global and highly networked business arena. In this financial context, it is not realistic to think that we can continue to rely on siloed and immutable financial systems.
We need flexible, elevated open-source algorithms, time-efficient financial structures that cut settlement times as well as costs, and transactions that are not only frictionless but also borderless. Digital currencies offer exactly that. So, cryptocurrencies and crypto exchanges have been portrayed as an alternative to traditional banking, but actually we are expanding the financial offerings with the more advanced ecosystem. Most of the traditional banking businesses, such as loans, mortgage and credit cards etc, will still need banks to perform, and crypto exchanges can provide some innovative financial services with its infrastructure.
Bitget did great in 2022 while the market and several crypto companies were collapsing. What’s the secret sauce you have been using to grow rapidly and fast
The year 2022 was one of the roughest in the crypto industry. The collapse of Terra LUNA, Celsius, and FTX, consequently wiping out over US$2 trillion from the crypto market. Despite the hardships in the market, Bitget grew in all aspects; the company made great strides in building our team, brand, and business over the last 12 months during the crypto winter.
Some key development areas of the company included:
- Climbing the chart ranked as the Top 3 exchange according to the Boston Consulting Group report, in terms of crypto derivative trading volume.
- According to the latest TokenInsight report, Bitget’s market share in the derivative market increased from 3% to 11% after the collapse of FTX
- Over 300% increase in total transaction volume, with the popularity of copy trading products
- The workforce grew from barely 200 people at the beginning of 2022 to over 1300 employees now
- Became the exclusive crypto exchange partner with Lionel Messi
Bitget is the first and largest crypto copy trading platform, connecting beginners with professional traders. Launched in May 2020, Bitget now supports copy trading in the spot market, futures market, and copy a strategist. Since its launch, the copy trading feature on Bitget has attracted more than 80,000 elite traders to share their strategies and more than 380,000 followers to copy.
These figures of growth attribute to our endeavors on not only service improvement and product innovation, but also the global expansion and adoption of top-notch security and protection measures. Previously, the company focused on serving customers from a few Asian countries alone. However, by the end of 2022, the exchange had acquired over 8 million users in more than 100 countries, with footprints in Turkey, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Bitget is safeguarding users’ funds on the platform with a series of security policies, including a $300 million Protection Fund, a Fund Custody service, pledged to be fully reserved back by the Merkle Tree Proof of Reserves model.
Can you tell us more about funds security at Bitget? Do you provide any audits
In Bitget, securing users’ assets on our platform has been our top priority since day one, and we have taken plenty of measures on this end. The first response we have done with FTX’s collapse is to launch a US $5 million builders’ fund to assist affected partners, and increased our Bitget Protection Fund to US $300 million with transparent wallet addresses and guarantee no withdrawal for 3 years. As far as I know, our Protection Fund is the second largest among all CEXs so far.
The next thing we worked on is our Proof-of-Reserves. We have developed a verification tool “Merklevalidator” internally and with free access to open-source codes on GitHub. Not only showing reserve status as a whole in the company, users can also verify their own account’s proof of reserves with the tool, and proving our exchange reserve to users assets is at least on an 1:1 ratio.
Aside from financial measures, Bitget’s team has also been working strenuously on platform security as well. Bitget’s security team adopted measures such as mature risk control systems, advanced security governance, trusted wallet encryption and many more to keep cybersecurity threats under control.
Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) has said that sustained collaboration among African countries remains central to the continent’s drive toward digital transformation.
The organisation stressed that building secure, interoperable and inclusive digital systems across Africa cannot be achieved in isolation, calling for stronger regional partnerships to accelerate innovation and shared infrastructure development.
The position was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the Head of Corporate Communications at Galaxy Backbone, Chidi Okpala.
As it prepares to host a major delegation of policymakers, technology leaders and development partners in Abuja, GBB said the engagement would further highlight the importance of cross-border cooperation in shaping Africa’s digital future.
Okpala explained that the initiative is designed to provide both dialogue and practical exposure to Nigeria’s digital infrastructure ecosystem.
According to him, the visit will allow delegates to better understand how shared ICT systems are supporting governance and service delivery in the country.
“This engagement will provide an opportunity for African stakeholders to not only discuss policy frameworks but also see firsthand how digital public infrastructure is being deployed to improve efficiency, connectivity and innovation in the public sector,” Okpala said.
He added that GBB’s hosting role reflects its growing importance in advancing digital governance and infrastructure development across the continent.
“Galaxy Backbone is increasingly positioned as a key enabler of trusted digital infrastructure, and this engagement reinforces that role within Nigeria and beyond,” he noted.
Speaking ahead of the programme, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Ibrahim Adeyanju, said the future of Africa’s digital economy depends on the ability of countries to work together in building resilient systems.
“No single country can achieve the level of transformation required on its own. We must share knowledge, align strategies, and invest in systems that can serve the entire continent,” Adeyanju said.
According to the statement, the engagement will feature a continental dialogue themed “Building Africa’s Digital Foundations Together,” bringing together stakeholders from 11 African countries in Abuja.
The programme is being organised in partnership with Co-Develop, Smart Africa, and MicroSave Consulting, with discussions expected to focus on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), digital identity systems, secure connectivity, interoperability frameworks, and inclusive digital ecosystems.
GBB said delegates will also undertake a guided tour of its infrastructure and facilities in Abuja, where they will be exposed to Nigeria’s digital transformation journey and the systems supporting cloud services, cybersecurity, government connectivity, and digital platforms.
The company noted that the tour is intended to demonstrate how shared ICT infrastructure is strengthening governance and enabling more efficient public service delivery.
Participants are expected to explore practical pathways for accelerating the deployment of digital public infrastructure to support economic growth and institutional reforms across Africa.
GBB maintained that the initiative also confirms Nigeria’s position as a regional hub for digital innovation and infrastructure development, while deepening cooperation among African nations.
MTN Nigeria reinforced its commitment to supporting African storytelling and emerging creative talent at the 12th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA), held on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Eko Hotels & Suites.
MTN Nigeria
Hosted by Bovi Ugboma and Nomzamo Mbatha, the star-studded event brought together some of the biggest names in African film, television, and entertainment for a night celebrating creativity, culture, and cinematic excellence.
As part of its participation at the Awards Night, MTN Nigeria sponsored the Best Short Film category, one of the standout moments of the evening aimed at recognising and rewarding emerging filmmakers shaping the future of African storytelling.
The award was presented by the General Manager, Enterprise Sales, MTN Nigeria, Febisola Oyeleye, alongside actor Jide Oyegbile.
The winning film, Hussaini, by filmmakers Orire Nwani and Josh Olaoluwa, earned both the prestigious AMVCA recognition and a ₦5 million cash prize sponsored by MTN Nigeria.
Speaking during the presentation of the cash prize to the winners, Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, reiterated MTN’s commitment to youth empowerment and supporting the creative industry through platforms that spotlight emerging talent.
According to her, the brand remains intentional about supporting young Nigerians who continue to push boundaries through creativity and storytelling. “At MTN, one of the things that we are so committed to is youth empowerment.
We believe that the youth of Nigeria are actually the future of the country. When we see young people being productive and coming out tops in what they do, it speaks to their commitment and ability to move beyond boundaries.
One of the ways we support the creative industry is through the short film category, and we are delighted to see deserving winners who are obviously on their way to great things,” she said.
The filmmakers behind Hussaini also celebrated the win, with one of the creators describing it as a defining moment after multiple nominations in the category.
“This is our last nomination in this category, and I’m excited we finally have it,” he said. “Next year, we are coming for Best Feature Film.”
Beyond the Awards Night, MTN’s presence throughout the AMVCA week extended to initiatives such as Young Filmmakers Day and the #MTNFilmChallenge, both designed to spotlight emerging talent and create opportunities for young creatives to tell authentic Nigerian and African stories through film and digital content.
With its continued investment in platforms that celebrate creativity and empower young storytellers, MTN Nigeria once again highlighted the important role partnerships can play in shaping the future of Africa’s entertainment industry.
MTN Nigeria strengthened its support for Nigeria’s creative economy by rewarding five emerging filmmakers through the #MTNFilmChallenge at the Young Filmmakers Day as part of the 12th Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) week.
The event, which held at MultiChoice Studios Lagos, brought together young and aspiring filmmakers for a day of learning, collaboration, and celebration of African storytelling.
The #MTNFilmChallenge, a short-form film initiative inviting creators to share one to three-minute stories reflecting perspectives on Nigerian culture, hustle, and everyday life, drew entries from across the country. At the close of submissions, five standout filmmakers including Precious Aisa, Fitz-Williams Ochie, Ugwueze Jennifer, Anuyimika Ayomide, and Alexander Oshiame were rewarded with cash prizes worth ₦4,650,000 in total, while two other finalists received consolation prizes.
MTN reiterated its commitment to supporting Africa’s growing creative ecosystem by creating platforms that not only encourage creative expression but also expand visibility for young talents navigating the digital content space.
Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka, said the company remains intentional about empowering young Nigerians and creating opportunities for emerging creatives to thrive within the entertainment industry. “At MTN, we strongly believe young people are central to Nigeria’s future, and it is always inspiring to see them pushing boundaries through creativity and storytelling.
“For us, supporting initiatives like the short film category and the #MTNFilmChallenge is about creating platforms where young creatives can be seen, encouraged, and celebrated. We are excited to see these filmmakers taking bold steps and telling authentic stories that reflect the richness of our culture and experiences,” she said.
The event also gave a platform for the next generation of storytellers to engage directly with established industry figures including Uche Jombo, Orire Nwani, Tamara Adeyemi, and Stan Eze through curated masterclasses and panel sessions.
As the opening event of AMVCA Week, Young Filmmakers Day set the tone for the celebrations ahead, reinforcing the Awards’ role not just as a platform for recognition, but as a catalyst for growth, collaboration, and innovation within Africa’s film and television industry.
With the 12th AMVCA underway, the focus remains on celebrating excellence while nurturing the next generation of storytellers shaping the future of African cinema.
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