Traditional securities talent — why are they flowing into crypto exchanges?

Author: Whiter Runner

For a long time in the past, traditional brokerages were seen by many financial professionals as a safer choice.

With mature licenses, clear processes, and a relatively defined career path. When you spend a long time in such a system, you get used to that sense of security with clear boundaries: what you can do, what you can't, with rules for every step.

But over the past few years, the environment of policy, compliance, and cross-border business has continuously evolved, and the business boundaries of traditional brokerages have adjusted accordingly. Client offboarding, regional restrictions, and tighter customer acquisition – terms that once only appeared in the news – gradually became daily realities for frontline employees. Fewer users, narrower paths, and changing methods of growth.

It was precisely at this time that some professionals from traditional finance began to look outside again.

Ethan, Lily, Myooi... they once held various roles in traditional brokerages: growth, operations, creative, product, user acquisition. Some were just starting to understand what a "blockchain" is, some had only followed Crypto through the news, and others had already seen traditional finance and the crypto industry drawing closer.

They all had their own concerns: compliance, stability, volatility, career development, personal fit – each issue worthy of deep thought.

But as familiar paths began to narrow, new markets were also opening up. For them, Bitget wasn't just a new job opportunity; it felt more like a chance to re-understand the financial industry and to re-validate their own capabilities.

Ethan: Five Years on the Overseas Financial Frontline, First to Feel the Market Moving

Ethan worked at Futu for nearly five years, responsible for building regional business teams, local market development, KOL operations, and corporate partnerships.

These roles kept him on the market frontline for a long time. He could feel it every day: where users came from, whether channels were still effective, whether partners were willing to proceed. Later, the business boundaries of traditional brokerages began to shift. Cross-border operations, customer scope, and acquisition methods all became more cautious. For someone in growth, this change was palpable: actions that could be tried quickly before now required confirmation of whether they were allowed, in which regions, and to what extent.

Ethan has always been sensitive to external market changes. He describes his career having spanned different industries, "from internet brokerage to traditional banking to Web3," but consistently within the overseas financial sector. Based in Hong Kong, he saw more and more Web3 conferences, and events from exchanges like OSL and HashKey. Clients and friends increasingly discussed the current state, regulations, and compliance of the crypto industry.

He said that during his years working in Hong Kong, he clearly felt Web3 was "entering everyone's daily work and life more frequently." This change gave him a bit of FOMO and also led him to seriously learn about the crypto industry starting in 2024.

His first proactive experience with Crypto was because of the Trump token in 2024. After downloading the exchange app, his first reaction was simple: "What is a chain? And what's the difference between different chains?" He wasn't knowledgeable about the industry from the start; he had to re-learn from the most basic level.

But he saw deeper opportunities. Compared to the traditional secondary market, he saw the crypto industry more like a primary market, potentially "a 'product' that could bring change from the settlement layer."

Over the next year or so, he observed, traded, communicated, and compared. It wasn't until he saw Bitget's UEX concept and direction, which he felt aligned with his own career development choices, that he decided to apply and join.

Before making the final decision, he said he "actually didn't have any real concerns." If there was one, it was this:

"Do I have the courage to fight."

For Ethan, joining Bitget meant taking his market sensitivity, channel management skills, and experience in building teams – honed in overseas finance – and re-validating them in a faster, newer market that urgently needs to break through.

Lily: The Longer She Worked in Operations at Futu, the More She Knew She Couldn't Wait Too Long for Opportunities

Lily worked at Futu for over three years, primarily responsible for community operations and wealth management-related business.

She handled hot market operations, user engagement and conversion for funds and ETFs, KOL sourcing and maintenance, and participated in investment strategy meetings, onboarding institutional fund accounts, and content collaborations. Those roles taught her early on that financial operations depend not just on processes, but also on timing.

When market trends emerge, content must follow. When users are active, conversions must be captured. When hot topics appear, operational actions must respond immediately.

Be slow, and user sentiment passes.

Traditional brokerages gave her a solid foundation. Standardized processes, mature regulations, clear user paths – these helped her build a fundamental understanding of financial users and wealth management. But the longer she stayed, the more she felt the other side: operational actions are easily constrained by compliance and organizational boundaries. Many times, it wasn't a lack of ideas; the question was whether they could be implemented, when, and how far.

Her later focus on the crypto industry also started from observing users and the market.

She found this industry to be "very cutting-edge," with high user trading frequency and rapid market changes. The flow of information and opportunities is noticeably faster than in traditional finance. Before joining Bitget, her understanding of Crypto wasn't particularly deep, built mostly through X (Twitter), exchange announcements, industry news, and some basic personal trading experience.

Her biggest concerns were the industry's volatility and whether her own growth rate could keep up with the company's and the industry's development pace.

The pace at a crypto exchange is faster, user feedback is more direct, and demands on an operator's response speed and data-driven judgment are higher. In the past at a traditional brokerage, an operational action might emphasize safety and standardization. Here, hot assets, user behavior, and market sentiment change much faster, requiring quicker judgment and quicker action.

Lily didn't take this change lightly.

She knew it would be more demanding and that she would need to fill in a lot of industry knowledge. But she also saw that the community operation, user conversion, KOL management, and wealth management experience accumulated in traditional brokerages hadn't become obsolete. They were simply placed into a new market with faster feedback and denser changes.

For her, the appeal of Bitget wasn't just the new industry itself.

It was also the faster growth rate, the stronger global perspective, and the more frequent knowledge sharing. She later mentioned that one of her biggest gains was discovering that "I myself can adapt to a fast-paced work environment."

She brought experience from traditional finance and re-discovered the boundaries of her capabilities within this new rhythm.

Joyce: From Content Creation to Value Validation, Armed with Three Years of Experience in an Information Role

Joyce worked in information services at Futu for 3.5 years, responsible for producing and organizing stock and financial information content. She dealt daily with users' need for information and the rhythm of market changes. When market events occurred, users wanted to know what happened quickly; when assets fluctuated, users wanted to understand the reasons behind it. She learned to explain information clearly within traditional finance and became accustomed to adhering to compliance and expression boundaries.

Initially, her understanding of the crypto industry was limited to news and social media, and she had some concerns about volatility, compliance, and the industry's future. "I knew the pace was fast here, and staff turnover is high, so stability was a concern," Joyce recalls. But she simultaneously saw it as a new space to validate the value of her content. User reactions and market feedback are direct and rapid. "I wanted to see if the content I created could be re-validated in a new market."

The final factor in her decision to join Bitget wasn't just seeing industry trends or short-term hype, but a combination of personal growth opportunities and professional judgment. She said, "I'll give it a try and see if my professional experience can be effective here."

After joining, her most tangible feeling was the fast pace, direct feedback, and clearer responsibility. Previously at the brokerage, content often required layers of approval before release, causing slow reactions. At Bitget, every piece of content and every material output quickly shows feedback in terms of user activity, retention, trading, and repeat purchases. She felt this wasn't just a change in work, but a re-evaluation of her professional abilities.

To colleagues in traditional finance still on the sidelines, she advises: "Don't just look at short-term popularity; look at whether the platform has a long-term vision, whether the team is professional, and whether the role can truly stretch your capabilities." This logic is also what drove her own choice.

Joyce brought the professional skills accumulated in traditional finance into a new market with faster feedback and denser changes, re-validating the value of content and re-confirming her core competitive strengths in financial information and content creation.

Myooi: A Creative from the Japanese Market at Futu, Unwilling to Let Creativity Be Trapped in Processes

Myooi worked at Futu for 2 years, responsible for social media ad creatives and growth concepts during the POC pioneering phase in the Japanese market.

This kind of work heavily relies on speed. Whether a trending topic can be captured or a creative asset can perform well often depends on how quickly the idea enters the market and how fast data can be fed back.

But in a traditional brokerage, creatives had to pass through layers of checks by local legal, compliance, and other departments. She said, "By the time the process was done, the timeliness was long gone." Sometimes, even after repeated revisions, the content would be completely rejected.

For someone in growth and creative work, this type of attrition is very draining. You know an idea might work, and you know users are talking about it, but the opportunity has cooled off before the material even sees the light of day.

Before joining Bitget, Myooi didn't have a deep understanding of Crypto. She said she was more of an "outsider" who occasionally followed industry trends and worried about Web3's stability. The external buzz about the industry was always half bullish and half bearish, making her uncertain about its long-term development.

What truly moved her was Bitget's UEX philosophy and its integration with traditional Web2. She said she was already somewhat dissatisfied with some existing traditional financial systems, and Bitget's UEX concept "deeply resonated with me."

After joining Bitget, her most noticeable feeling was the expansion of creative space. The burden of cumbersome approvals was lessened, ideas could be tested faster, and data could be returned more quickly.

Of course, it wasn't easy. She says the pace here is very fast, emphasizing agility and results-orientation. Sometimes, when inspiration strikes, she forgets to eat. With more creative space comes the pressure to consistently produce hit content.

But for Myooi, at least the distance between her ideas and the users has shortened.

Her experience building the Japanese market from scratch, her understanding of traditional financial user psychology, and her judgment on growth-related content can all be reused at Bitget. In her own words, bringing these fundamental business logics to Web3 and combining them with the high degree of creative freedom here "creates chemistry very easily."

Abby: Years of Designing Wealth Management Products, Re-understanding "Delivery" at a Faster Pace

Abby spent many years designing wealth management products and has had prior experience in the crypto industry.

She first encountered the crypto industry around 2018, joining Huobi at one point and having her own investment experience. So, compared to some traditional finance professionals just entering Crypto, she wasn't unfamiliar with the industry. Before coming to Bitget, she didn't have many industry-level concerns. Her decision to join was more driven by "career development considerations" and because "the work content seemed to fit me well."

What truly made her feel the change was the speed.

She said the pace at Bitget is faster. "For example, a feature that might take half a year to launch at Futu would typically be required to launch within 2 months here."

For a product manager, this means many things are compressed.

Requirement assessment must be faster, solution trade-offs must be faster, cross-team communication must be faster, and delivery and review must be faster. In the past at a traditional brokerage, a wealth management product feature could be refined over a longer cycle. After coming to Bitget, market changes and business needs push the product forward.

This isn't just a heavier workload.

For Abby, the bigger challenge was re-understanding wealth management products in the crypto industry. She mentioned needing to learn Web3 industry knowledge, like DeFi, which she hadn't been exposed to much before.

But she also appreciates the pace here.

She mentioned that Bitget allows her to feel the "team's efficient output" and "the product's rapid development." Her biggest gain was understanding how wealth management products are done in the crypto industry.

The product skills and brokerage knowledge she accumulated in the past weren't discarded. This time, they were placed into a faster system.

For a product manager, this means pressure, but also more direct growth feedback.

Vera: Responsible for Content at Futu, She Began to Want to Broaden Her Capabilities

Vera worked at Futu for two years, primarily responsible for investor trading content.

At that time, she was more familiar with the content aspect: how to explain information clearly when market trends emerged; how to clarify trading logic when users needed to make judgments. The division of responsibilities in traditional brokerages was also clearer, with "more single-line execution staff and clear duty boundaries."

But she later started thinking about pushing her capabilities further.

Her serious consideration of the crypto industry was mainly due to "personal development opportunities." She said she "wanted to further broaden my skill set" and was also looking for a remote opportunity. Before joining Bitget, her biggest worry was compliance issues, but through communication with friends and sharing from industry people, those concerns gradually dissipated. She felt Bitget "provided relatively good safety protection for employees."

After coming to Bitget, her role quickly changed.

She started working on event growth operations, responsible for CFD business event operations and product operations. Previously, her focus was more on content output. Now, she participates in the entire process from event research and planning to communication with the product team, execution, and review.

This was a very direct change for her.

She said, at Bitget, "the pace is relatively fast." Individual business lines are mostly small teams, where everyone backs each other up. The overall team atmosphere is also quite open. In comparison, Futu was relatively more conservative, offering "less space for employee innovation."

She likes this more direct sense of results.

In her view, the crypto industry "is very results-focused, wanting to achieve results quickly," which is very different from the slow pace of traditional industries. She also appreciates Bitget's "growth speed and innovative atmosphere."

For Vera, coming to Bitget wasn't simply changing one operations job for another.

She is still working in finance-related business. But this time, she is no longer just staying in the content output phase. She has to get closer to events, products, users, and results, and within a faster rhythm, push the boundaries of her capabilities outward again.

Cecilia: After Years in Advertising, She First Discovered Work and Life Don't Have to Be Mutually Exclusive

Cecilia previously handled performance advertising at Futu. After coming to Bitget, she joined the ad placement data product team within the ad placement platform, responsible for the strategy and execution of various placement test projects.

She sees the differences between the two industries very clearly. Traditional brokerages operate within a more mature financial system with a "clear and stable regulatory framework." The crypto industry has greater policy differences across countries, is generally still in a phase of development and exploration, and its compliance path is relatively more uncertain.

She also knows that market volatility is higher here, the pace is faster, and user segmentation is more pronounced. Differences between users, from beginners to high-frequency traders, manifest in varying levels of knowledge and behavior. This means ad placements, creatives, audience targeting, and conversion paths all require constant trial and error.

Therefore, Cecilia's choice wasn't just about being attracted by a "new industry."

Her serious consideration of the crypto industry was partly because she "is optimistic about its development prospects," and partly because the remote work arrangement was indeed very important to her. At that time, a family member was seriously ill, requiring her to frequently travel between her permanent residence and her hometown. Remote work gave her the space to continue working while also attending to her real-life responsibilities.

But what truly sealed her decision was the role and the team itself.

She mentioned that Bitget's interview process was "simple and quick," and the communication was very professional. The job description was written very clearly, indicating the company had deep thoughts about role fit and also showed the leader's professionalism in the business area.

After joining, she felt the differences even more directly.

Bitget is "flatter and more open," with a stronger pace and a good team atmosphere. Compared to the "reporting culture" and "upward management" she sometimes encountered in traditional brokerages, she has hardly seen that at