Author: Whiter Runner

For a long time, traditional brokerages were seen as a safer choice by many finance practitioners.

Licenses were mature, processes were clear, and career paths were relatively certain. People accustomed to such systems would get used to the clear boundaries of security: what can be done, what cannot be done, and each step has rules to follow.

However, in the past few years, policies, compliance, and the cross-border business environment have continuously changed, leading to adjustments in the business boundaries of traditional brokerages. Customer withdrawals, regional restrictions, and tightened customer acquisition—these terms, which previously only appeared in the news, have slowly become a reality that frontline employees can feel every day. With fewer users, narrower paths, and changed growth methods.

It was at this moment that some traditional finance practitioners began to look outward again.

Ethan, Lily, Myooi—each of them once held different positions in traditional brokerages: growth, operations, creativity, products, and marketing. Some began to understand what "chain" means, some have only followed crypto news, and others have already seen the convergence of traditional finance and the crypto industry.

They each have their own concerns: compliance, stability, volatility, career development, personal fit—every issue is worth pondering.

But when the familiar path began to narrow, new markets also opened up. For them, Bitget is not just a new job opportunity; it feels more like a chance to reevaluate the finance industry and validate themselves again.

Ethan: Five years on the frontlines of overseas finance, feeling the market move first

Ethan has 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 at the market's forefront. Where do users come from, can channels still operate, and are partners willing to collaborate—he feels these every day. Later, the business boundaries of traditional brokerages began to change, becoming more cautious regarding cross-border operations, customer ranges, and acquisition methods. For those in growth, this change was overwhelming: what once could be tried quickly now requires confirmation of what can be done, in which regions, and to what extent.

Ethan has always been sensitive to changes in the external market. He mentions his career spans multiple industries, “from internet brokerages to traditional banks to Web3,” but he has always been in overseas finance. Being in Hong Kong, he has seen more Web3 exhibitions and activities from exchanges like OSL, HashKey, where clients and friends frequently discuss the state of the crypto industry, regulations, and compliance.

He says that during his years in Hong Kong, he felt Web3 was "entering everyone's daily work and life more". This change gave him a bit of FOMO, prompting him to start seriously exploring the crypto industry from 2024.

His first active experience with crypto came from the 2024 Trump coin. After downloading the exchange's app, his first reaction was simple: “What is a chain? What are the differences between different chains?” He wasn’t initially well-versed in the industry and needed to relearn from the basics.

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

Later, he spent more than a year observing, trading, communicating, and comparing. Until he saw Bitget's UEX concept and direction, he felt it aligned with his career development choice and decided to apply.

Before making the final decision, he said he "actually had no concerns". If there were any, it would only be one:

“Do I have the courage to take the first shot?”

For Ethan, joining Bitget is an opportunity to put his market sensitivity, channel capabilities, and team-building experience from overseas finance into a faster, newer, and more ruptured market to validate himself again.

Lily: The longer she worked in operations at Futu, the more she knew opportunities cannot wait too long

Lily has worked at Futu for over three years, mainly responsible for community operations and wealth management-related businesses.

She has worked on hot market operations, fund and ETF user activity and conversion, KOL identification and maintenance, and also participated in investment strategy meetings, fund institution official account registrations, and content collaboration. Those experiences early on helped her understand that financial operations rely not just on processes but also on timing.

The market rises; the content must keep up. Users are active; conversion must catch them. When a hot topic arises, operations must take immediate action.

If you are slow, user sentiment passes.

Traditional brokerages provided her with solid training. Standardized processes, mature regulations, and clear user pathways helped her establish a basic understanding of financial users and wealth management business. But the longer she did it, the more she felt the other side: operational actions can easily be constrained by compliance and organizational boundaries. Many times, ideas are not lacking; the problem lies in whether they can be executed, when they can be done, and to what degree.

Later, she became interested in the crypto industry, starting from user and market observations.

She discovered this industry is "very cutting-edge," with high user transaction frequencies, rapidly changing markets, and notably faster flows of information and opportunities than traditional finance. Before joining Bitget, her understanding of crypto was not particularly deep; she built her knowledge through X, exchange announcements, industry news, and her own basic trading experiences.

What she cares about most is market volatility and whether her growth speed can keep up with the company and industry’s pace.

Crypto exchanges have a faster rhythm, more direct user feedback, and higher demands for operational response speed and data judgment. In traditional brokerages, an operational action might emphasize stability and regulation more; here, hot assets, user behaviors, and market sentiments change faster, requiring quicker judgment and action.

Lily does not take these changes lightly.

She knows it will be more exhausting and recognizes she needs to supplement much industry knowledge. However, she also sees that the community operations, user conversion, KOL maintenance, and wealth management experience she accumulated in traditional brokerages have not expired. They have merely been placed into a market that reacts faster and is more changeable.

For her, the appealing aspect of Bitget is not just the new industry itself.

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

She carries the experience from traditional finance and redefines her capabilities in this new rhythm.

Joyce: With three years in information roles, she shifts from content creation to value validation

Joyce worked in information services at Futu for three and a half years, responsible for producing and organizing stock and financial information content. Daily, she faced user demands for information and the rhythm of market changes. When markets move, users want to know what happened quickly; when assets fluctuate, users want to understand the underlying reasons. She learned to articulate information clearly in traditional finance and got used to the rules of compliance and expression boundaries.

Initially, her understanding of the crypto industry was based on news and social media, wherein she had some concerns about volatility, compliance, and the industry's future. “I know the pace here is fast, and the turnover rate is high; stability is an issue,” Joyce recalled. But she also saw it as a space to validate the value of her content, with direct user responses and swift market feedback. “I want to see if the content I create can be validated in the new market.”

What ultimately drove her to join Bitget was not just recognizing industry trends and short-term buzz, but the combination of personal growth opportunities and career judgment. She said, “Let me give it a try and see if my professional experience can make an impact here.”

Upon joining, her most immediate feeling was of speed, direct feedback, and clearer responsibilities. In the past, at a brokerage, content would often require multiple levels of approval, resulting in slow reactions; at Bitget, each piece of material and output enables quick views of user activity, retention, trading, and repurchase feedback. She felt this was not only a change in work but also a re-evaluation of her professional abilities.

For her traditional finance colleagues who are still hesitant, she suggests: “Don’t just focus on short-term heat; also consider whether the platform is long-term oriented, the team is professional, and the role can truly stretch your abilities.” This sentiment is also the logic behind her own choice.

Joyce has brought her accumulated professional abilities from traditional finance into a faster-paced, more variable new market to reassess the value of content and confirm her core competitiveness in financial information and content creation.

Myooi: Creative person for the Japanese market at Futu, does not want creativity confined by processes

Myooi has worked at Futu for two years, responsible for social media user acquisition and growth creativity during the exploratory phase of the Japanese market.

This type of work relies heavily on speed. Whether a hot trend can be captured or whether a creative idea can be executed usually depends on how fast the idea can hit the market and how quickly data can come back.

However, in traditional brokerages, material must first go through local legal and compliance checks. She said that very often, "by the time the process ends, the timeliness has long passed," and even after multiple revisions, it may still be completely rejected.

For someone in growth creativity, such exhaustion can be draining. You know that a certain expression could be effective and that users are discussing it, but if the material isn't out yet, the opportunity has already cooled off.

Before joining Bitget, Myooi didn’t have deep knowledge of crypto. She describes herself more as an occasional "outsider" who kept an eye on industry trends and was concerned about Web3's stability. The outside voices about this industry always seem to have half optimistic and half pessimistic tones; she was uncertain about its long-term development.

What truly impressed her was Bitget’s UEX concept and its integration with traditional Web2. She noted that she had dissatisfaction with some existing traditional financial systems, and Bitget's advocated UEX "deeply moved me".

Once at Bitget, her most evident feeling was that the creative space had expanded. The burdens of tedious approvals decreased, allowing ideas to be tested faster and data to return quickly.

Of course, this isn’t easy. She said the pace here is extremely fast, emphasizing agility and results-oriented outcomes. Sometimes when inspiration strikes, she becomes so busy that she forgets to eat; with the increase in creative space comes pressure to continuously produce popular materials.

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

Her experience of building the market from 0 to 1 in Japan, her understanding of the psychology of traditional financial users, and her judgment on growth materials can all be repurposed at Bitget. In her own words, bringing these underlying business logics to Web3, combined with the high freedom of material expression here, creates "chemical reactions" easily.

Abby: After years of financial product design, she redefines "delivery" in a faster pace

Abby has many years of experience in financial product design and also has experience in the crypto industry.

She first encountered the crypto industry around 2018, when she joined Huobi and had her own investment experiences. Thus, compared to some traditional finance practitioners who just entered Crypto, she is not foreign to this industry. Before coming to Bitget, she had few industry concerns, choosing to join mainly for "career development considerations" and because "the job content felt aligned with herself".

What truly made her feel the change was the speed.

She said Bitget’s pace is faster, “For example, features that might take Futu six months to launch could require rollout here in at most two months.”

For a product manager, this means much is condensed.

Demand judgments need to be faster, decisions on solutions need to be quicker, cross-team communication speeds must increase, and delivery and feedback processes also need to accelerate. In traditional brokerages, a financial product feature could be refined over a longer cycle; upon arriving at Bitget, market changes and business demands push products to move forward.

This is not just an increase in workload.

For Abby, a bigger challenge is re-understanding financial products in the crypto industry. She mentioned that she needs to learn Web3 industry knowledge, such as DeFi concepts, with which she had limited prior exposure.

However, she also values the rhythm here.

She mentioned that Bitget has shown her "the team's efficient output" and "the product's rapid development". The biggest gain has been understanding how crypto industry financial products are developed.

The product skills and brokerage knowledge she accumulated in the past have not been discarded. This time, they have just been placed in a faster system.

For a product manager, this means pressure and more direct feedback on growth.

Vera: Responsible for content at Futu, she begins to think about broadening 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: when markets rise, how to articulate the information clearly; when users need to make judgments, how to explain the trading logic clearly. The divisions of responsibilities in traditional brokerages are clearer, with "more execution employees per single business line, and clear responsibilities."

However, she later began to think about pushing her capabilities further.

She thoughtfully considered the crypto industry mainly because of “personal development opportunities.” She said she “wants to further expand her ability areas,” and was also seeking a remote opportunity. Before joining Bitget, she was most concerned about compliance issues but gradually alleviated her worries through discussions with friends and insights from industry professionals. She feels that Bitget "provides relatively good security for employees."

Upon joining Bitget, her role quickly changed.

She began managing growth operations for events, responsible for activity operations and product operations in the CFD business. Previously focused more on content output, she now engages in a full cycle from activity research to planning, communication with products, execution, and feedback.

This represented a direct change for her.

She said Bitget “moves at a fast pace,” with each business line consisting of small teams that back each other up; the team is relatively open overall. In contrast, Futu was more conservative, "offering less room for employees to innovate."

She appreciates the more immediate sense of results.

In her view, the crypto industry “places great emphasis on results, hoping for quick outcomes,” which is very different from the slow pace of traditional industries. She also recognizes Bitget's “growth speed and innovative atmosphere.”

For Vera, arriving at Bitget isn’t merely about switching to another operational job.

She remains engaged in financial-related businesses; only this time, she won’t remain solely focused on content output. She needs to get closer to events, products, users, and results, while also expanding her capabilities in a faster rhythm.

Cecilia: After years in advertising, she discovered for the first time that work and life can coexist

Cecilia previously managed performance advertising at Futu, and after joining Bitget, she took on strategies and execution for various testing projects within the ad placement data product group.

She sees the differences between the two industries very clearly. Traditional brokerages operate within a more mature financial system, where “the regulatory framework is clear and stable”; the crypto industry, on the other hand, faces greater differences in policies across countries and is still in a phase of development and exploration, making compliance paths relatively uncertain.

She is also aware that the market here is more volatile, the pace quicker, and user stratification more pronounced. Differences among users—from novices to high-frequency traders—result in varied cognitive behaviors. This requires continuous trial and error in placement, materials, audience selection, and conversion paths.

Thus, Cecilia’s choice was not merely drawn to the "new industry."

She carefully considered the crypto industry, partly because she “sees its development prospects,” and partly because the remote working mode is indeed important to her. At that time, her family was seriously ill, requiring her to frequently travel between her long-term residence and her hometown; remote work provided her with the space to continue working while taking care of her real-life situation.

However, what truly influenced her judgment was the role and the team itself.

She mentioned that Bitget's interview process was “simple and quick,” with professional communication; the job descriptions were clear, indicating that the company had deeply considered job suitability while also reflecting the leader's expertise in business.

After starting, she felt the differences more directly.

Bitget is “more flat and open,” with a stronger pace and a pleasant team atmosphere. Compared to the "report culture" and "upward management" she encountered at traditional brokerages, she has not seen much of that at Bitget.

She is well aware that freedom comes with a price.

She said that what attracts traditional finance professionals to crypto is the “24/7 global mobility, density of innovation, and fairer tools”; what they need to adapt to are the “no-clock-out environment, self-responsibility, high volatility, and mental management.” This reflects her own judgment style: not beautifying nor avoiding.

For Cecilia, Bitget offers her not only remote working but also a higher-density working environment. It demands more rapid judgments, stronger self-drive, and requires her to validate her capabilities in user stratification, data analysis, and refined conversion accumulated in traditional advertising within a faster-changing market.

She knows where the risks are and where the opportunities lie.

In the end, she chose to enter this environment with greater uncertainty but higher potential.

When the boundaries of finance move, talent will also choose a new direction

When looking at these cases together, one may find that their choices are not the same.

Some were the first to feel the shifts in overseas markets and financial boundaries, some noticed that the speed of opportunity flow was increasing; some wanted to validate content value in a new market, while others needed a platform for their creativity to reach users faster; some desired to transition from a single content focus to a more holistic business setting, while others redefined delivery in a faster product rhythm; and still, others made more complex judgments between opportunity, risk, and realistic life.

They did not move toward the crypto industry because traditional finance is unimportant; on the contrary, it's precisely because they understand finance, users, growth, and compliance that they are more aware that the financial industry is entering a new stage.

In the past, traditional brokerages taught them stability, standardization, and a sense of boundaries. Upon arriving at Bitget, they face faster feedback, stronger results orientation, more global users, and a market with higher uncertainty.

This is not an easier path.

It requires continuous learning, quick adaptation, and demands that an individual has the courage to re-evaluate the experiences accumulated in the past within a new environment.

But talent mobility does not merely mean job-hopping.

It often signifies that an industry is changing and that new opportunities are forming. The talent flow from traditional brokerages to Bitget represents not just simple career migration but an early choice by a group of finance professionals toward the next generation of financial forms.

When rules change, boundaries shift, and markets reopen, truly experienced individuals do not cling to past certainties. They carry the professional competencies honed in previous roles and seek the next place deserving of their investment.

The next stop for finance does not belong to those who only wait for certainty; it belongs to those who see change, understand risks, and are willing to prove themselves anew in the new market.