Bitget CEO Open Letter: UEX to Usher in a New Era of Financial Democracy

On New Year's Eve when I was twenty, I received a call from my mother. She was incredibly excited on the other end of the line, exclaiming loudly, "Gracy! I finally did it! I bought a big house of my own!"

For years, this had been her dream, yet it posed a significant financial challenge. At the time, many friends advised her against buying. "It's too expensive," they warned her. "If the housing market crashes, you could lose everything." Today, that house is worth eight times its original value. She seized a rare opportunity in life—indeed, each generation encounters a few such wealth-building opportunities that can propel them across social classes.

In the crypto industry, such opportunities are unfolding. I'm not just talking about asset appreciation. Of course, Bitcoin's price is rising, but the entire industry is also evolving and expanding at an unimaginable pace.

I often hear people lament, "Our generation was born in the wrong era." We see how our parents' generation (like my mother) could afford houses with their salaries back then, followed by soaring property prices. But the truth is not that we missed the boat; rather, we are presented with a completely different set of opportunities.

E-commerce, mobile payments, content monetization, cryptocurrency... Those of us engaged in the internet, crypto, and AI fields are the earliest perceivers and fastest adapters of this era—true "digital natives." Our parents' opportunities lay in land, licenses, and resources; our opportunities lie in code, consensus, and traffic.

All of this exists outside traditional structures, belonging to the brave who dare to embrace uncertainty. History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. The crypto industry is entering a golden age, and Bitget is passionately advancing step by step, scaling new heights on this journey.

2025 marks my first full year as CEO of Bitget and a year where we propel the industry to new heights. Compared to other exchanges, Bitget is still young, possessing immense growth potential; yet by 2026, we have already taken the lead in multiple areas.

With the launch of UEX, we have become the world's first "Universal Exchange"—a next-generation exchange capable of offering all tradable assets on a single platform. I want to ask everyone: How many of you have checked your investment portfolio today? How many browser tabs, apps, and wallets did you have to open to do that? For example...

• Centralized exchanges like Bitget, Binance, or Coinbase;
• Decentralized wallets like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, or Phantom;
• If you follow the stock market, perhaps you also checked Robinhood or eToro;
• And of course, you might have used ChatGPT or DeepSeek to search for new tokens and products...

As you constantly switch between apps, you face another problem: compromise. CEXs, DEXs, TradFi, and AI each offer the most exciting piece of the puzzle, but no single platform provides top-tier security, a diverse range of global assets, and a seamless user experience all at once. This is precisely the problem UEX aims to solve.

In early December, after I shared the vision for UEX at the Solana Breakpoint conference in Abu Dhabi, a friend from Tether approached me. They found the UEX concept highly compelling and suggested that "U" could mean much more than "Universal"—a one-stop shop for the world's core assets. It could also represent the ubiquity of stablecoins like USDT. He told me that in Asia, many crypto users affectionately refer to USDT simply as "U." On a UEX like Bitget, USDT acts like a universal key: with just this one quote currency, you can invest in the world's highest-quality assets, including cryptocurrencies, stocks, gold, forex, and more.

UEX started as just a spark in a team brainstorming session. We quickly realized this would be the shape of the next-generation exchange. So, we turned the idea into a plan and the plan into reality.

First, we supported all crypto assets. When Bitget was founded, like most exchanges, we relied on listing teams to screen assets. However, with the launch and continuous evolution of our Onchain trading section, Bitget has now opened its doors to millions of assets on chains like Ethereum, Base, Solana, BSC, and Morph. On Bitget, you can trade any crypto asset you love, anytime, anywhere, completely permissionlessly.

Next, we brought RWA (Real World Assets), starting with stocks, to crypto users. Through partnerships with Ondo and xStocks, we currently support nearly 200 stock tokens and 35 stock futures, covering global giants like NVIDIA, Apple, and Tesla.

The success of UEX excites us. I am incredibly proud to announce that this month we became the world's first exchange to surpass $10 billion in stock futures trading volume, a significant industry milestone.

Now, we are pushing the boundaries further by bringing gold, silver, forex, and CFDs (Contracts for Difference) to the crypto community. Since early December, we have opened the internal testing of our TradFi services to hundreds of users. In just a few weeks, the cumulative trading volume for these assets has exceeded $10 billion, and the waitlist has surpassed 80,000 people.

This is just the beginning. For Bitget, 2026 will have three core strategic directions: UEX, AI, and Compliance.

UEX: A Revolution in Financial Democracy

This week, we will open our TradFi services to all eligible users. This marks the beginning of a rapid expansion: we will continue to add support for stocks, commodities, and ETFs, and deepen liquidity. To ensure users not only have "access" but also an excellent experience, we will continuously enrich tools like copy trading and trading bots.

Furthermore, we will persistently optimize global asset data services, upgrade RWA tokenization solutions, and open 24/7 trading for stock perpetual contracts. UEX is not just an asset aggregator; it is a democratic revolution committed to achieving fairness in global capital markets.

Crypto AI: From Conversational Interaction to Intent-Based Trading

Exchanges are the most fertile ground for the convergence of Web3 and AI because we possess the richest user behavior data. This year, Bitget launched GetAgent, an industry-leading AI product that deeply understands the crypto market, providing traders with instant insights. Building on its success, we will evolve our AI models to become smarter and more capable of execution. We will achieve a paradigm shift from "answering questions" to "executing trades," offering a personalized, one-of-a-kind experience for every user.

In 2026, our roadmap will encompass AI search, intelligent signals, dedicated AI assistants for channel partners, AI tax experts to solve tax complexities, and AI digital humans to enhance interactive warmth.

Compliance: Embracing the New Era

The era of "wild growth" in the crypto industry is ending. Clear, enforceable rules will unlock mainstream market trust, deeper liquidity, and lasting institutional participation. As one of the most active promoters of crypto mass adoption, Bitget has already obtained multiple licenses globally.

In 2026, we will adopt a more robust, phased global licensing strategy. We will prioritize core markets, gradually expand our compliance coverage, and maintain transparent, long-term communication with regulators in major financial hubs. As licenses are obtained, we will establish and expand local entities, building a safe, stable, and trustworthy platform for users worldwide.

In 2025, Bitget celebrated its seventh birthday, but our ambitions extend far beyond that.

We are building a publicly listed company with a market cap of $100 billion, a century-old enterprise with deep roots and global influence. Given the pace of medical advancement, I might not be around by Bitget's centennial celebration, but if I am, I will surely be raising a glass of champagne in one hand and waving a cane with the other, celebrating with everyone.

Right now, I already have a glass in my hand. So I raise it and propose a toast: To a fantastic year for Bitget! To the thriving and maturing crypto industry! And to the success of each and every one of us in 2026, cheers!

Gracy Chen

Chief Executive Officer, Bitget