Inside Bitget’s strategy: Interview with CMO Ignacio Aguirre Franco

As the year comes to a close, we got the chance to sit down with Ignacio Aguirre Franco, Chief Marketing Officer at Bitget. In our discussion, we explored his work experience, Bitget’s rebranding, and their distinctive branding and marketing strategies that have kept them ahead of the competition.

Ignacio also gave us a hint of the biggest opportunities for crypto exchanges in the coming years. 

Working experience

Coming from a computer engineering background, Ignacio began his coding journey at a young age. He later transitioned to consulting, where he identified a gap for professionals with a technological and marketing background. He would later work in various sectors, including entertainment at Universal Pictures, gaming, and companies such as Adobe and SAP.

Each experience built a knowledge layer. According to Ignacio, his primary goal in the space is to create narratives and storytelling that connect with people.

We then asked Ignacio how it is working at Bitget.

While at Bitget for only three months, Ignacio highlighted the exchange’s rebranding into a universal exchange, which he delves into later in the interview. He also lauded the exchange’s global team, which is heavily remote, comprising highly specialized individuals. 

Bitget CMO Ignacio Aguirre Franco on the left and Cryptopolitan’s Rohan on the right

Marketing a crypto exchange

Good code eliminates friction, good branding eliminates doubt.

Ignacio weighed the balance between product and marketing. A good product can survive without great marketing, but a bad product cannot survive even with the best marketing.

While technical teams highlight metrics, real value is in translating technical capabilities into human, relatable value.

We then asked him about the unique challenge of marketing a crypto exchange.

Ignicio shared that compliance and regulation were a must when entering a new market. The biggest challenge, however, was that the rules varied across borders. 

This meant that all forms of messaging had to conform to all the varying regulations. While frustrating at first, it became easier with time, he confessed. In regions where crypto adoption was fragile or regulatory frameworks were evolving, they simply never marketed there. 

On blockchain principles and terminologies.

Bitget as a universal exchange

On Bitget becoming a universal exchange, Ignacio discussed the three main things people look for in an exchange: asset variety, usability, and liquidity. All these were at Bitget. The exchange also included a decentralized exchange and access to real-world asset tokens (RWAs). 

He also highlighted Bitget’s security systems, which have never been hacked, its $700 million Protection Fund, and 1.8x Proof of Reserves.

Ignacio went on to talk about Bitget’s flagship product, GetAgent. 

According to Ignacio, GetAgent was a natural step for Bitget, as it incorporates artificial intelligence as a trading assistant. 

For advanced traders, GetAgent helped in trade analysis and validation.

In addition to trading, GetAgent also serves as a knowledge base, collecting real-time information from multiple channels, including social media, real-time price data, and news. 

Bitget CMO Ignacio Aguirre Franco and Cryptopolitan’s Rohan 

Maintaining brand identity

With most of the crypto exchanges offering similar products, we wanted to know how Bitget managed to stand out.

Ignacio discussed attention as a scarce resource in exchanges; therefore, there was a need to be different. 

Bitget pioneered copy trading, which has over 200,000 elite traders and is also the first exchange to become a universal exchange. Staying ahead of the pack was crucial. 

He also emphasized the importance of improved communication and fostering trust with their clients.

When it came to working with key opinion leaders, Ignacio said that they only collaborated with individuals who shared the company’s values. 

Looking ahead

We asked Ignacio about the most significant opportunities for crypto exchanges in the next 2 to 3 years.

Ignacio identified massive adoption and RWAs as significant opportunities for crypto exchanges in the coming years. 

As a universal exchange, Bitget would become a platform, not only for crypto, but also for traditional financial assets and RWAs. 

He also observed that adoption will increase among the younger generation, digital natives who will interact with these assets as their first financial products. 

Ignacio closed off by telling us about how much they value their users.