Heading Into 2024’s Crypto Year: Open Letter from Gracy Chen

As we wave goodbye to 2023 – a year of victories, challenges, and exciting developments – I wanted to recap the monumental events that will set the course for the crypto market in 2024, leveraging our influential market stance.

Just like the thrill ride of 2022, this year continued to keep us on our toes. As the market slowly crawled out from the lingering shadows of the FTX collapse, with the overarching topics being industry security and regulatory frameworks — it wasn't all doom and gloom. We saw some unprecedented victories, like the BTC spot ETFs getting the spotlight and the BTC broader ecosystem flexing its muscles. These milestones have undeniably shaped the industry's sentiment.

Let's take a swift trip down memory lane in 2023. What were the most significant breakthroughs propelling the transformative essence of crypto this year?

2023 In a Nutshell

The collapse of traditional banks like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank at the beginning of 2023 had a profound impact on the perception of cryptocurrencies in the traditional financial sector. It exposed the vulnerabilities of the traditional banking system, leading to a surge in demand for crypto assets.

Ethereum (ETH) underwent another major upgrade in 2023, transitioning from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS), resulting in a slight drop in ETH prices initially. However, the rise of Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) and projects like Lido saw a surge in Total Value Locked (TVL). This upgrade brought changes to the Ethereum staking environment and the LSD market, requiring prompt adaptation by stakeholders.

Throughout 2023, a growing number of traditional asset management giants like Blackrock, Fidelity, and others applied for Bitcoin Spot ETFs. The SEC's acceptance of these applications marked a milestone, suggesting Bitcoin's growing recognition. If approved, BTC Spot ETFs could attract investments ranging from $30-40 billion, drawing comparisons to gold ETFs.

The BTC ecosystem saw explosive growth in Q4 2023, with BRC tokens ORDI and SATS listing on major exchanges and experiencing significanT price surges. This success paved the way for other projects within the Bitcoin ecosystem, fueling expectations of BTC potentially surpassing historical highs, even reaching $100,000.

It's been a year of highs and lows, filled with learning and adaptation in an industry that's always evolving. The regulatory activities also signal the beginning of the massive adoption of the crypto market. Amidst these dynamic market changes, Bitget has actively contributed, striving to maintain a balance between compliance and innovation.

Rising Against the Tide

At Bitget, our team has adeptly navigated the turbulent waters of 2023. Our flexible business strategy and robust management have enabled us to remain resilient and capitalize on market fluctuations.

Though originally focused on futures products, we reopened the spot market in 2021. In 2023, we went all-in in spot trading and our efforts have paid off significantly – Bitget's spot trading volume has experienced a remarkable surge of 94%. Additionally, we are proud to announce that we have introduced 355 new coin listings, representing a significant 46% year-on-year increase in our offerings.

At Bitget, our focus goes beyond just good numbers, and our goal is to continuously build and lead the way in global crypto adoption. Our research team and listing team closely follow the market, seeking potential projects, and introducing different zones in the spot market — BRC20, AI, and more. We're keeping users in the loop on trendy coins, letting them ride the wave of early-stage investments.

Our copy trading flagship product also continued to grow against the market trend. We now have over 130,000 Elite Traders on our platform with over 680,000 cumulative followers. Profits from copied trades reached $450 million, with elite traders bagging around $23 million in added profits on top of their usual gains. We're not just growing; we're innovating with industry-first features like spot copy trading and private mode for the Elite Traders.

Bitget's team has expanded from 1,100 to 1,500 employees, and the increase from 8 million to 20 million users marks a significant leap in our growth trajectory.

We've taken substantial measures to elevate our customer service, firmly reaffirming our dedication to delivering superior support with a user-centric approach. In 2023, we have engaged with and assisted 600,000 users through our online customer service. Notably, our support team has also facilitated the recovery of missing assets totaling over 495,000 USDT.

The business performance supported the price growth of our native token, BGB, which has delivered exceptional performance in 2023. Starting the year at $0.18, it skyrocketed to an all-time high of $0.70499 in December, marking a remarkable 291% surge. Moreover, BGB became one of the top 5 CEX platform tokens by market capitalization, solidifying its position as one of the year's standout exchange platform tokens.

Strategic Moves and Investments In Bear Market

Despite its challenges, 2023 was also about making smart moves and wise preparations for the upcoming market growth. As the market sentiment shifted to a more rational state from the previous hype and speculation mode, it gave way to more solid and valuable investment opportunities.

The $30 million investment we made into BitKeep, now Bitget Wallet, was our strategic business shift from CeFi to DeFi. As the crypto industry evolves, decentralized systems provide several advantages such as enhanced security, increased transparency, and greater user control over assets. By embracing DeFi, Bitget is tapping into the growing demand for financial services that are independent of centralized intermediaries, ultimately positioning itself for long-term success in the rapidly evolving crypto market.

Our strategy is also continuously revolving around the Bitget Web3 Fund and the EmpowerX Fund — each boasting a $100 million allocation. The Web3 Fund focuses on investing in Web3-friendly venture capitals and outstanding Web3 projects, while the EmpowerX Fund seeks investment opportunities in regional exchanges, data analytics firms, media, and other entities that would facilitate the growth of our ecosystem.

We believe that the bear market is the perfect time to BUIDL. We're committed to pursuing this expansion strategy, not merely to participate in the game but to change it.

Empowering the Future: Bitget's Social Pulse

We've always envisioned Bitget as more than just a profitable business. It's our vehicle for reshaping the global financial landscape and empowering individuals with the transformative force of Web3, as we believe in a more equitable future world driven by crypto evolution.

Our Blockchain4Youth charity project, backed by a hearty $10 million and various forms of support, is our way of saying that we believe in the enormous impact younger generations will have on the industry in the future.

In 2023, we hosted 26 offline educational events and partnered with different colleges to provide students with an in-depth understanding of blockchain technology, including University College London (UCL), University of Buenos Aires Argentina, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, National Taipei University of Technology, and so forth.

The Blockchain4Youth project launched its Builders Program to recruit and nurture young talent. The program aims to recruit young talents worldwide and provide them with all the necessary tools and training in crypto, blockchain, and Web 3 experiences. As of now, we have supported over 4,000 Bitget Builders, and we're all about cultivating young minds to prepare for the crypto and blockchain revolution, shaping the next-gen leaders.

Enhancing Security and Compliance

We believe that security and compliant development have always been crucial cornerstones for the healthy growth of the industry and the company. We know that with great power comes great responsibility. In 2023, we went full throttle on these two sectors.

The implementation of mandatory KYC this year aims to bolster security compliance and risk analysis, aligning Bitget with global and regional financial regulations. Our registration as a VASP in Poland and Lithuania underlines our commitment to providing a secure and regulated trading environment for our users.

Bitget is here to do long-term and the right way.

Bitget Turns 5: More than Just a Milestone

This year also marks Bitget's 5th anniversary. As we reached the five-year milestone, we underwent a rebranding initiative and anniversary celebration to reorganize ourselves and set off for a better future.

"Trade smarter," isn't just a catchy phrase; it's our guiding principle. Together with our users, we will continue to build the world's largest crypto copy trading community, leveraging new technologies like AI to help the community trade smarter as a whole.

Our journey, marked by relentless pursuit and innovation, is worth celebrating. Our 5th-anniversary event, the EmpowerX Summit, brought together about 1,000 brightest minds in crypto, envisioning a future that’s bright and bold.

Looking Forward

As we step into 2024, the cryptocurrency landscape is poised for significant developments. While we are predicting the major industry trends, we will align our development plan with these advancements.

1. BRC-20, ARC-20, and Bitcoin Scalability will be the key sectors to watch in 2024. The technological upgrades have laid the foundation for the fervor surrounding Bitcoin scripture in 2023, with its value gradually being realized by the market. It is anticipated that the likely approval of the Bitcoin ETF in 2024, along with the next halving, will become a new narrative for BTC scripture. Assets such as BRC-20 under the Ordinals protocol, ARC-20 and Realm under the Atomicals protocol, and PIPE under the PIPE protocol, as well as the Bitcoin scalability sector, are worth continued attention.

2. Reduced gas fees will boost the ETH ecosystem with the Cancun upgrade. We also have a positive outlook for Ethereum's Layer2 and Layer3 ecosystems in 2024. The Cancun upgrade will utilize Ethereum nodes to achieve temporary off-chain data storage and retrieval, meeting the needs for on-chain application data and storage. Currently, 90% of Rollup transaction fees involve data being sent back to L1 for storage fees, significantly lowering gas fees and establishing a mature infrastructure for Ethereum's large-scale customer acquisition.

3. Long-term potential will be revealed in the combination of AI and blockchain. In 2023, generative AI technology made impressive breakthroughs, such as AI chatbots and image generators, gaining attention from the investment and tech sectors. The combination of AI and blockchain is worth noting. For instance, ZKML has found a convergence point between AI (machine learning) and cryptography (ZK technology). This technology uses zero-knowledge proof to verify the correctness of machine learning inferences without exposing model inputs or parameters and holds significant long-term potential for development.

Noticing all the new trends, we feel that Bitget’s road ahead holds both promise and challenges. We remain resolute in our commitment to move forward with a clear strategic vision. In our upcoming year's development strategy, we will prioritize three critical areas: 1) compliance, 2) emerging markets, and 3) Web 3.

At Bitget, we recognize the vital importance of adherence to compliance within this dynamic industry, and we continuously strive to align ourselves with the latest compliance standards. With global regulation of digital assets progressing rapidly, we actively seek out jurisdictions offering enhanced regulatory clarity for licenses and industry registrations.

Simultaneously, as crypto adoption burgeons, we recognize significant potential and substantial growth opportunities within emerging markets such as LATAM, SEA, and Africa. Accordingly, we are intensifying our efforts and allocating additional resources to these burgeoning markets.

In this continuously evolving crypto landscape, amid fierce competition among exchanges, we understand the imperative of robustly developing our Web 3 business. This initiative is critical not only to fortify our position but also for sustained long-term growth. Hence, we are set to broaden our business scope further within the DEX and Layer2 sectors.

As the bull market approaches, I firmly believe that 2024 will be a very exciting year for both crypto BUIDLers and investors. The best is yet to come and let’s achieve more together.