Gracy Chen

Chief Executive Officer, Bitget

Gracy Chen (Bitget CEO) on the Future of Crypto Market (ft Sulianto Indria Putra) | Inside IDBW

📅 Sep 17, 2026 Indonesia Blockchain Week 19 MIN 227 VIEWS 69 SEGMENTS · 2 SPEAKERS

What's really coming next for the crypto market? In this episode of Inside IDBW, host Sulianto Indria Putra sits down with Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, to unpack where the market is heading and what it means for traders, builders, and everyday users. === About Inside IDBW Inside IDBW is a podcast series from Indonesia Blockchain Week. Episodes are recorded at a dedicated podcast room set up during the event, featuring conversations with guests from Indonesia Blockchain Week 2026 === 🔔 Subscribe for more Inside IDBW episodes #IndonesiaBlockchainWeek #InsideIDBW

What Gracy Chen said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, discussed her role as a female leader in crypto, noting she was the only female CEO among top exchanges but acknowledging He Yi of Binance as co-CEO. She clarified she joined Bitget in 2022 as managing director and became CEO in 2024. Chen highlighted Bitget's user growth from 2 million to 125 million. She observed a merging of TradFi and crypto, citing that in March 2026, 40% of Bitget's trading volume came from non-crypto assets like tokenized gold, silver, and stocks. She predicted tokenized assets could reach 10% of the global market by 2030, contingent on regulatory approvals like SEC clearing NASDAQ and NYSE tokenization. Chen dismissed AI altcoins as memecoins but saw real potential in AI agents handling transactions. She emphasized blockchain's integration into TradFi, having discussed with BlackRock, NYSE, Visa, and Mastercard.

Key takeaways

Bitget users grew from 2 million in 2022 to 125 million now, with about 20-30 million when she became CEO in 2024.
In March 2026, 40% of Bitget's trading volume came from non-crypto assets, averaging about 20% in 2026.
She predicted tokenized assets could reach 10% of the global market by 2030, up from 0.01% penetration.
Bitget listed pre-SPAC tokens in April 2026, giving users a 50% gain within a month.
She dismissed AI-linked altcoins as memecoins, not proxies for real AI companies like OpenAI.

Numbers and commitments

Figure	What it refers to	Type	At
125 million	Current Bitget user count	metric	4:27
2 million	Bitget users when she joined in 2022	metric	4:27
20-30 million	Bitget users when she became CEO in 2024	metric	4:32
40%	Peak share of Bitget trading volume from non-crypto assets in March 2026	metric	6:27
20%	Average share of Bitget trading volume from non-crypto assets in 2026	metric	6:42
10%	Predicted share of tokenized assets in global market by 2030	other	9:43
0.01%	Current penetration of tokenized assets in $125 trillion market	metric	9:43
50%	Gain for Bitget users from pre-SPAC token within a month	metric	11:44

Chapters

0:00Female CEO in top exchanges
2:13Identity and treatment as woman CEO
4:05Bitget user growth since 2022
5:14TradFi and crypto merging
10:22Tokenized assets and regulation
13:50AI and crypto applications
16:50Market movers in next few years

Questions asked in this interview

0:43Yeah. But she's not CEO, right?
2:13But like is there any difference from being a CEO and a woman CEO?
3:11Do people like your staff or employees treat men CEOs and women CEOs differently?
4:05So you became the CEO of Bitget in 2022, right?
4:24So how many users does Bitget have right now?
4:47Uh do you see like any difference from the user behavior or investor or trader behavior from them?
7:53What are the other reasons people want to trade like RWA tokens or tokenized assets?
10:17Uh what are your like requirements or criteria for that to happen?
13:40Is there any way for them to collide and for them to eventually grow the industry?
16:40What do you think will move the market in the upcoming like two or the next two or three years as a CEO POV like what do you see?

Interviewer 0:05 ↗

Okay. Hi, Gracie.

Gracy Chen 0:07 ↗

Hi.

Interviewer 0:07 ↗

So, like a few days ago when I was asked by Kevin, one of the people who managed this event, to interview you, I did some research on you and I found out that you are the only female CEO out of the top 10. Yeah.

Gracy Chen 0:26 ↗

Well, yes. I was the only female CEO in top 10 exchanges, but I think right now we also have He Yi from Binance. She's co-CEO. She has always been the co-founder. She's a great leader. We actually know each other a long time ago. I respect her as well. So, there are a couple of female CEOs.

Interviewer 0:43 ↗

Yeah, I did some research like so Binance has He Yi and she is co-CEO. Yeah. But she's not CEO, right?

Gracy Chen 0:52 ↗

She is co-CEO. Yes. No, but she was a co-CEO previously. I think she became the co-CEO earlier this year.

Interviewer 1:00 ↗

Oh, so right. Uh, Bybit is from Ben Zhou.

Gracy Chen 1:04 ↗

Uh, not a woman at that time. I mean, until right now, OKX is...

Interviewer 1:09 ↗

has always been a man. Yes.

Gracy Chen 1:11 ↗

Uh, Coinbase is Brian Armstrong.

Interviewer 1:13 ↗

Armstrong.

Gracy Chen 1:14 ↗

Uh, MEXC, Gate, and so on. So, there's no woman CEO.

Interviewer 1:17 ↗

So my question is do people see you as CEO first or as woman CEO first because um it's very rare in the web3 industry as I know it that a woman is becoming a CEO.

Gracy Chen 1:32 ↗

Yeah. Um I can't speak for people who are not me but I think what I want at least is people see me as a CEO before seeing me as a woman. Yeah. And of course out of the gender identity, I also have many other hats. For example, I'm a single mother. Uh I'm also a visiting professor. Um I've always been a crypto investor since 2015. Uh but although I only joined Bitget in 2022 and this is my one and only crypto job. Um, so I have many other hats that I hope people can remember me of rather than just a female CEO.

Interviewer 2:13 ↗

But like is there any difference from being a CEO and a woman CEO? Like is there...

Gracy Chen 2:20 ↗

I don't think so. I actually don't think there should be different treatments.

Interviewer 2:22 ↗

Yeah.

Gracy Chen 2:22 ↗

I don't think there should be different treatments and I don't consider that like okay because I'm a female I have a lower standard or have a higher standard that I need to prove. I don't think that way. But I do have to admit I do leverage on the fact that I'm a female in order to number one be more outstanding given 90% of the CEOs out there are men. So I want to leverage the fact that I'm a female and also I want to empower our female group of traders or employees in this industry and show them that if I can do it you can also do it and there shouldn't be much difference in how I run an exchange or how...

Interviewer 3:11 ↗

Do people like your staff or employees treat men CEOs and women CEOs differently?

Gracy Chen 3:17 ↗

I don't think so. No. Yeah, I don't think so. Uh other than maybe sometimes they try to take care of me a little bit. For example, whenever I travel in Southeast Asia, you know, to Malaysia to Indonesian blockchain week, my team always offers, you know, some local tour guide and local car for me. Like they try to protect me and they try to care for me. I don't think they care. Uh I'm not sure for other organizations maybe they feel like the female CEO needs a little bit more caring from that sense. Uh we're not that familiar in this industry. Uh but I don't think other than that people care as much as many outsiders think in terms of the gender difference.

Interviewer 4:05 ↗

Okay. So you became the CEO of Bitget in 2022, right?

Gracy Chen 4:10 ↗

No, 2024. I joined Bitget in 2022 as managing director and my role was to promote Bitget, to deal with external relationships, to do our globalization and then in 2024 I became the CEO.

Interviewer 4:24 ↗

So how many users does Bitget have right now?

Gracy Chen 4:27 ↗

Right now we have 125 million. So when I joined Bitget we have about 2 million.

Interviewer 4:32 ↗

Okay.

Gracy Chen 4:32 ↗

Um and when I became the CEO we have about 20 million. 20, 30 million.

Interviewer 4:37 ↗

2022 is like 2 million. About 2 million.

Gracy Chen 4:40 ↗

And 24 is like 60...

Interviewer 4:42 ↗

About 20, 30 million.

Gracy Chen 4:44 ↗

Okay. Yeah. And right now...

Interviewer 4:45 ↗

And now we have 120.

Gracy Chen 4:47 ↗

Okay.

Interviewer 4:47 ↗

So from the 120 million users that you saw, like there are some crypto traders or investors who are profitable and who lose money. Uh do you see like any difference from the user behavior or investor or trader behavior from them? Like is there any traits or stuff that you see from...

Gracy Chen 5:09 ↗

From 22 to now?

34 more exchanges in this transcript

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX

APA

Chen, G. (2026, September 17). Gracy Chen (Bitget CEO) on the Future of Crypto Market (ft Sulianto Indria Putra) | Inside IDBW [Interview transcript]. Indonesia Blockchain Week. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1434964/

MLA

Gracy Chen. "Gracy Chen (Bitget CEO) on the Future of Crypto Market (ft Sulianto Indria Putra) | Inside IDBW." Indonesia Blockchain Week, 17 Sep. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1434964/.

BibTeX

@misc{chen2026_1434964,
  author       = {Gracy Chen},
  title        = {Gracy Chen (Bitget CEO) on the Future of Crypto Market (ft Sulianto Indria Putra) | Inside IDBW},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, Indonesia Blockchain Week. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {sep},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1434964/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}

▶

Key Quotes (1)

“I definitely see a lot of potential into tokenization, you know, tradfi merging with crypto or blockchain. The national treasury part of the story which was pretty hyped in 2024 and 25, I think that has opportunity when the national reserves of for example the US or certain other countries in Europe really started to buy bitcoin just like institutions started to accumulate bitcoin in 2024. I think”

▶ 16:50 POLICY

Mentioned in this interview

Binance None-Binance: He Yi is co-CEO there, known to Chen.

He Yi: Co-CEO of Binance, respected by Chen.

Robinhood: Listed crypto; cited as TradFi exchange merging with crypto.

Futu FUTU: Asian TradFi exchange listing crypto.

NASDAQ NDAQ: Discussed tokenization and 23/5 trading hours.

NYSE: Discussed tokenization with Chen at high level.

BlackRock BLK: Issued IBIT and tokenizing AI ETF.

Republic Crypto: Partnered on pre-SPAC token listing.

Earlier, on the same topics

“It's not really accurate to call ourselves just CEX because now we have all those DEX assets and we're not just serving crypto users — we're also serving TradFi users who may want to use stablecoins to buy TradFi assets. That's why we pivoted to UEX (Universal Exchange); we want to enable our users ”

Mar 10, 2026 at 5:47 →

“The major shift that you are seeing here is less and less crypto‑native — especially those altcoins that are not providing or producing real value — and more and more mainstream assets; those listed on NASDAQ and major ETFs and indices have much more fundamental value.”

Jan 31, 2026 →

“UX stands for universe exchange and this term comes from the idea of generally people divide crypto exchanges previously into either CEX or DEX, but these two forms still exist but in 2025 there are trends like the integration of DeFi and CEX and the rise of RWAs, tokenized US stocks. Calling oursel”

Apr 04, 2026 at 0:46 →

“I think fundamentally after that the volume or the liquidity went down almost 30% and that's more of a base case for at least the exchange data that we are seeing. Stable coins keep growing, tokenization is growing, more institutions are building no matter it's a bear market or bull market, also reg”

Sep 09, 2026 at 2:31 →

Every Gracy Chen interview →

More interviews with Gracy Chen

Bitcoin Could Swing 30% Either Way In The Next Two Months | Gracy ChenOct 24, 2026 · The Wolf Of All Streets · 36 min
Gracy Chen: This Will Trigger Bitcoin's Bull MarketOct 15, 2026 · New Era Finance Podcast · 55 min
Panel | Yield At Scale: Building Earn Features for 100M+ UsersOct 14, 2026 · Vault Summit · 21 min
BITGET CEO Reveals The Future Of TOKENIZED STOCKS 🌎 | Gracy Chen, BitgetOct 14, 2026 · Bitcoin Argentina · 8 min
Bitget CEO Breaks Silence After $388M Hack: “We Have Over $1B”Oct 05, 2026 · BeInCrypto and BeInFinance · 25 min
Inside Bitget's $388M Hack: How the Attackers Got InSep 29, 2026 · Unchained · 79 min

All Gracy Chen transcripts →

About Gracy Chen

Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, has been publicly addressing the exchange's September 24, 2026 security breach, in which approximately $388 million was stolen from its hot and warm wallets. Chen stated that attackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product to obtain high-level internal credentials and initiate unauthorized transfers. She said the company covered user losses using its protection fund and company capital, which she stated exceeds $1 billion, and described steps taken to strengthen security, including stricter assessments of third-party products and reset internal credentials. Chen also discussed the company's plans to replenish its protection fund to over $300 million and its efforts to cooperate with law enforcement and other industry participants to recover stolen assets. Beyond the hack, Chen has discussed her views on the broader crypto market, which she has described as a "monkey market" that could see Bitcoin swing 30% in either direction. She has expressed skepticism about the viability of many altcoins and has highlighted a shift toward tokenization, predicting that traditional financial assets such as stocks and commodities will increasingly be traded on blockchain infrastructure. Chen has also spoken about Bitget's strategy to become a "universal exchange" (UEX) offering a wider range of assets, including tokenized stocks and pre-IPO shares, and has noted the company's plans to expand into the U.S. market. She has additionally participated in panels discussing Bitcoin yield products and the role of women in crypto leadership.

All Gracy Chen appearances → Indonesia Blockchain Week on YouTube →