Bitget exec says KYC is useful to filter out illegitimate users

cointelegraph.com:

Crypto exchange Bitget has grown significantly despite the challenges brought by the bear market. In 2023, the exchange announced two $100-million funds — one dedicated to crypto projects in Asia and another for maximizing the company’s long-term impact in the crypto space.

At the Bitget EmpowerX Summit held in Singapore, Cointelegraph’s Zhiyuan Sun spoke with Gracy Chen, managing director of Bitget. The two spoke about Bitget’s growth amid the bear market, pausing its expansion in Hong Kong and the United States, and why they believe that implementing Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols is important for exchanges.

According to Chen, the company grew 10 times its original size in just two years. “For our company’s employees, we had about 150 two years ago, and right now, 1,500,” Chen said. The executive highlighted that this is a result of their efforts in the past few years and their being driven by results. Chen explained: 

The Bitget executive also mentioned a lot of their efforts, from branding and product launches to the company’s partnership with soccer superstar Lionel Messi, as some of the reasons for its growth over the past years. “In terms of the secret sauce, I guess it’s because of these things that we are doing — we are growing,” she added. At the same time, the growth makes them “financially healthy” to do more activities, according to Chen.

Related: Taiwan to restrict unregistered, noncompliant foreign crypto exchanges

When asked about the exchanges’ lack of presence in two key markets — the United States and Hong Kong — Chen noted that regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. is holding Bitget back from coming in. She said:

When it comes to Hong Kong, Chen said that they’ve already been in talks with the