With the World Cup on the horizon and global eyes drawn to Qatar for international football’s landmark event, Bitget announced a new collaboration with Lionel Messi as he looks to lead Argentina to glory.

Following the link, we spoke to Gracy Chen, Managing Director at Bitget, who underlined just how important the showcase is for brand expansion and how the firm has evolved its offering in recent years. 

Payment Expert: Firstly, are you able to tell us more about Bitget and your role in the crypto space?

Gracey Chen: Established in 2018, Bitget is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges with a core focus on social trading. Currently serving over 8 million users in more than 100 countries around the world, Bitget accelerated its mission to promote decentralised finance with an 800-strong workforce. 

Since Bitget’s official launch in the crypto derivatives market in June 2019, the platform has now become one of the world’s largest crypto copy trading and derivatives exchanges. Bitget is ranked in the top five globally by CoinGecko for derivatives trading by volume, also top five among all Crypto exchanges by a Forbes article for overall real bitcoin volume. Its flagship offering, One-Click Copy Trade, is a pioneer in social trading with 100,000 KOLs, innovating the experience for crypto derivatives traders worldwide.

The platform has now become one of the world’s largest crypto social trading and derivatives exchanges as it tops the list with Binance, FTX and more.  

On my side of the introduction, I’m the Managing Director at Bitget. I’ve held executive roles at  XRSPACE, a VR technology company prior, and am currently pursuing an MBA degree in MIT. In Bitget, I oversee the growth and expansion of global markets, strategy, execution, business and corporate development. 

PE: Can you tell us more about how you evolved your offering and aim to stand out in the crypto market? 

GC: The complexity of the cryptospace has always been one of the biggest entry barriers. 

With the vision to increase financial independence, we focus on transforming the way people connect and trade with social trading. This is our most important differentiator. We believe in the power of social trading and make it our quintessential feature, allowing us to differentiate among top exchanges such as Binance and FTX, offering users valuable services.

We started with the simple goal of solving this. We invited pro traders to use our platform and directed novice users to follow their trades and learn. Year over year we grew stronger, from a simple copy trading platform to the third largest derivatives exchange in the world. With a variety of trading assets and a multitude of social trading features, passive income strategy-based products and exchange licences in multiple countries throughout the world, we distinguish amongst others. 

PE: How important is Qatar 2022 as a platform for growing your business and crypto in general? 

GC: Many of our community members are certainly football fans. We would like to take this chance to let more sports fans know and understand the crypto world and Web3. 

We’ve recently partnered up with Lionel Messi, the Argentinian legendary footballer, Juventus FC the leading football team in Italy and various esports teams and tournaments. FIFA World Cup 2022 is extremely exciting for us and we’ll be there to cheer for all our partners.

Our King’s Cup Global Invitational (KCGI) Fall 2022, the global crypto futures trading competition, is closely tied to the World Cup theme, as for the schedule and phased reward system. Participants will compete to share a prize pool of up to 100 BTC, and get popular fan tokens. So our community can also participate and celebrate the football mega-event together. 

PE: What type of activities can we look forward to as part of the partnership with Messi? 

GC: We will have different initiatives and plans with Messi, offering Messi fans a unique opportunity to explore Web 3 and the crypto world while enjoying engagement with the football star. For example, the winners of KCGI have a chance to gain a coveted autographed jersey of renowned football star Leo Messi. We look forward to our plans of further market expansions and more partnerships in the coming future.

PE: What role do partnerships like this play in building trust from consumers and sports fans in the crypto space?

GC: The sports industry, no matter the football clubs or the famous football players, enjoys a large base of dedicated fans and followers, which would help crypto exchanges to build up a better brand image and gain massive awareness. 

We are in the midst of a financial revolution with Web3 and blockchain technology, and our role as a leading crypto exchange to support the development of the industry and boost growth, as well as providing appropriate education to the right audience.

Influential partnerships such as this one helps bridge the trust gap between traditional and emerging financial markets. To reach a broader audience, a credible ambassador is much needed to prove our products and platform are trusted by many. We’re glad to have Messi onboard the journey with Bitget! 

PE: When it comes to brand identity, what made Leo Messi the perfect partner for Bitget?

GC: Messi has a nickname called GOAT – Greatest of All Time. He is a great inspiration to many fans and players, and we would also hope to be like him. To persistently produce great content, innovative products to inspire the industry and benefit the community. Bitget is currently ranked as the top five crypto exchanges worldwide, but we don’t stay there. Hopefully, inspired by Messi, we will be able to achieve “the Greatest of All Time” soon.