Each has its own merits. This article reviews the corporate culture of the five major crypto exchanges
Original author: TechFlow
When I was a child, I often heard adults use the word cultured to describe a person.
I asked curiously, what does it mean to be cultured?
Adults told me that it is a kind of temperament that cannot be described but can be felt, and you will understand it when you grow up and work.
When I started working, I got a corporate culture manual. Although I didnt like reading much, I finally began to smell the scent of culture.
After all, when you are working, your cultural temperament is shaped by your company.
When a person keeps talking about, penetrate the mind, close the loop, review, empower, grasp, benchmark, sedimentation..., Dude, its from Alibaba, if he also says, You are a newcomer, you have to make some sacrifices, its 3.25 this year, then the probability is P 8.
If an old guy in the cryptocurrency circle shares with you tips on how to use company resources for your own benefit, you can also smile knowingly and say, Dude, youve worked at XX exchange, right?
Corporate culture is like the companys underwear. You may think it is unimportant at ordinary times because outsiders cant see it anyway, but it is necessary to have it, otherwise it is easy to expose yourself.
Some people say that corporate culture means employees have to do what their boss wants them to do, commonly known as PUA.
True corporate culture should be the values that everyone in the company agrees on, just like a group of like-minded drinking buddies who can drink until midnight and still be passionate about the companys mission - although they may regret it when they wake up the next day, at least they have been passionate.
We can easily recall the corporate culture of some well-known Internet companies, such as Tencent’s “Be a respectable company” and Google’s “Don’t be evil”, but what do you know about the corporate culture of companies in the crypto industry?
This article compares the corporate cultures of the world’s top five crypto exchanges. Each has its own merits. Which one is your cup of tea?
Coinbase: Pursuing victory like an NBA team
Coinbase, a long-established cryptocurrency trading platform, has always attached great importance to corporate culture building. Its mission is to promote world economic freedom and create an open financial system for the world.
Coinbase often compares the team to a sports team. One of its cultural tenets is to play like a championship team. In order to win the game, you need to:
Put the company first : As #OneCoinbase, put the company’s goals above any specific team or individual’s goals.
Acting for a greater purpose : working together to accomplish what none of us could accomplish alone.
Default Trust : We assume good intentions among teammates and that ignorance trumps bad intentions. We support each other.
Focus on commonalities, not differences : We help create a sense of cohesion and unity by focusing on what we have in common, rather than what divides us.
Sustained high performance : Unlike a family, where everyone pitches in regardless of performance, championship teams work together to raise the bar on talent, including replacing team members when necessary.
Corporate mission : To promote economic freedom around the world.
Coinbases top ten corporate culture rules:
Smooth communication : Communicate directly and concisely to share information efficiently and improve collaboration and productivity.
Efficient execution : Action first, complete high-quality work quickly, and advocate using 20% of the work to achieve 80% of the results.
Act like an owner : Works proactively and seeks to improve all aspects of the company, even non-work related issues.
Continuous Learning : Value learning, be willing to give and receive candid feedback, and view every setback as an opportunity to learn.
Attracting top talent : Coinbase is committed to attracting top talent, and will provide generous severance packages to employees with mediocre performance.
Build the strongest team : A successful team is needed, rather than creating a warm and loving family atmosphere, we have high expectations for performance and delivery results.
Customer-centric : Focus on using technology to solve customer problems and become the most convenient, reliable and secure platform.
Continuous Innovation : Using technology to improve the world, Coinbase tolerates failure and invests 10% of its resources in risky projects.
Positive energy : Be optimistic about the future and solve problems first when encountering difficulties instead of blaming others.
Mission First : Do not participate in social or political activities unrelated to the mission while at work, and strive to make the workplace a sanctuary to avoid division and focus on moving toward the mission.
Looking through the article, although the expression is very obscure, we can see two hidden points about Coinbase’s corporate culture:
1. A company is not a home. Coinbase only wants excellent employees. Those with mediocre performance will leave. Coinbase’s corporate culture still has a wolfish side.
2. Coinbase emphasizes seeking common ground while reserving differences, and emphasizes that it will not participate in social and political activities. Coinbase has previously been accused by employees of gender and racial discrimination, so related social and political issues are areas that Coinbase avoids touching. Political correctness is increasingly becoming a tight ring around the heads of American companies.
Binance: Committed to achieving currency freedom, recruiting hardcore employees
As the industrys largest trading platform, Binance has always been the subject of much research, especially on how to achieve effective cross-cultural management in remote work situations.
In the official article How Binance Manages Remote Teams Efficiently, two points are mentioned: determining corporate values that are conducive to remote work and cultivating a corporate culture of continuous communication throughout the process.
In July this year, Binance co-founder He Yi also said in an interview with the media that one of the good things about Binance in the past seven years is that its corporate culture is very solid.
Binance’s corporate values can be summarized in one sentence from CZ: “We view cryptocurrency as a fundamental means to advance the freedom of money. As such, we strive to promote cryptocurrency and make it available around the world. Every product and service at Binance helps achieve this goal, with user-first being our key driver.”
Vision : Binance is committed to increasing global monetary freedom and believes that by spreading this freedom, we can significantly improve the lives of people around the world. People should have the freedom to obtain, use, own, store and earn currency.
Mission : Binances mission is to provide core infrastructure services for cryptocurrency.
Core Values:
User-centric: Users and community are the reason for Binance’s existence. Their job is to serve and protect users, putting user interests first.
Freedom: To execute responsibly and autonomously, to empower those around you, to have a diverse team, to challenge the status quo.
Collaboration: open communication, teamwork, common goals, and co-building an ecosystem.
Hardcore: Focus on results, get things done, be passionate, work hard, learn quickly after failure and get back up.
Humility: Accept critical feedback, treat everyone equally, and be humble about your success.
Code of Conduct:
Effective Communication: Concise verbal and written communications, direct and honest, no sugar coat or selective reporting, clear requests, and providing adequate context.
Stay passionate: Be passionate about the industry and the important work, be proactive, and be driven by mission rather than money.
Continuous Learning: Become an early adopter and continually learn and adapt to this emerging and dynamic industry.
Respect other peoples time: Be on time and pay attention to details (such as muting and preparing the camera) to show respect.
Develop strong leadership: build lean teams, mentor and develop, have strong bench strength, continue to learn, and lead by example.
Understand company strategy: Understand the big picture, develop a keen sense of the business and industry, cultivate good judgment, prioritize the team, and focus on execution.
Develop a grassroots mentality: stay close to the community, stay authentic, and rely on social media instead of traditional media.
Demonstrates radical candor: Speaks directly, provides comprehensive data, focuses on the problem rather than the individual, accepts direct feedback, and does not shy away from escalating issues.
From the above, we can not only see the values advocated by Binance, but also get a glimpse of its style of doing things, which can be summarized as the pursuit of direct point-to-point communication, advocating to connect with users through social media rather than traditional media, and relying on its own platform to speak out rather than third-party channels. Therefore, we can also see that CZ\He Yi frequently communicates directly with users on X. Internally, Binance also maintains a flat communication style. Many Binance employees have said that they have received calls from CZ in the middle of the night to communicate about work matters.
Bitget: The Huawei of the cryptocurrency world, let the results speak for you
Speaking of wolf nature, we have to mention a Chinese company, Huawei.
Huaweis corporate culture and management philosophy have always been highly praised by many bosses in the cryptocurrency circle. For example, Bitmain co-founder Zhan Ketuan has a Huawei belief. He not only learns from Huawei in all aspects, but also poachs people from Huawei many times.
Although Huaweis wolf culture has also been controversial, it is undeniable that Huawei s management and culture have taken pragmatism and efficiency to the extreme.
No matter which industry it is, as long as Huawei becomes a competitor, everyone in the industry will be uneasy and the industry will face a reshuffle.
Since Huawei and SERES jointly launched the Wenjie, Ideal, the new car manufacturer with the highest sales volume, has made it clear that it will learn from Huawei in all aspects of organization, RD, and management. Its founder Li Xiang called on every executive to buy at least 10 books about Huawei to study them.
In the cryptocurrency world, which company is most like Huawei?
A subjective opinion is - Bitget.
Bitgets wolf culture is widely known in the industry, but most peoples understanding of the wolf culture is quite superficial.
According to a previous interview with Bitget CEO Gracy, in addition to a vision and mission, Bitgets corporate culture has four core values:
Vision : We believe that the crypto revolution will create a fairer future world.
Mission : We create the ultimate trading products to make future finance accessible, safe and efficient.
Values:
User first : always put user needs first;
Integrity and honesty : zero tolerance for any form of dishonesty;
Frank communication : Encourage team members to communicate and give feedback directly, rather than avoid or escalate;
Get results : Emphasize data-oriented and result-oriented working methods.
Such an expression is a bit abstract, but during Token 2049, Bitget held nearly 10 events, which made people marvel at the efficiency and execution of Bitget employees, becoming the most visible exchange during 2049: signing with La Liga (Spanish Football League LALIGA), the number of global users exceeded 45 million, the average daily trading volume exceeded US$10 billion, the monthly visits exceeded 30 million times, BGB outperformed BTC... All these labels left a deep impression on the participants.
Based on the authors experience working with Bitget, Bitgets corporate culture has two major characteristics.
First, set high standards and dare to boldly challenge the existing situation.
This is quite similar to Huawei. When Huawei just started its wireless business in the European market, Yu Chengdong told the team that Huawei would be number one in the wireless field in the future and surpass Ericsson. At that time, most people inside the company looked at Yu as if he were an idiot. In 2012, Yu Chengdong said that Huawei would launch a flagship phone that would be much more powerful than the iPhone 5, which caused everyone to laugh... However, a great team can often turn their boasting into reality.
For example, when most people believed that the cryptocurrency wallet market had reached its peak and the situation had been determined, Bitget Wallet has recently emerged as a dark horse.
In August this year, the Bitget Wallet App downloads reached 2 million, ranking first among the global Web3 wallets, with more than 12 million monthly active users (MAU).
Initially, the editor doubted the authenticity of the data and privately asked BG-related personnel whether the volume was inflated. The other party firmly denied it, saying, Absolutely not, and said, The actual data is even higher than this, because the above data only counted two major mainstream stores.
When asked the reason, it was thanks to Bitget Wallets early support for the TON mainnets MPC wallet solution this year, and its cooperation with more than 50 projects such as Catizen, Tomarket, and Notcoin. On-chain data showed that in August, Bitget Wallet contributed 17% of the active addresses on the TON chain.
Second, delegate power downwards and make everything result-oriented
After many companies become big, they are prone to politicization dilemma. Internal fighting and taking sides make the company fall into internal friction. At this time, high emotional intelligence employees who are good at upward management can often create a world, but there seems to be no such problem in Bitget, because its corporate culture is no matter how much you say, let the results speak for you . Secondly, everyone is too busy to waste time. It can be said that they are only busy with others and have no time for internal friction. High requirements are inevitably accompanied by high pressure, but Bitget also has a corresponding rule, Reward according to merit, those who have results will be fully authorized and rewarded .
In summary, unlike other corporate cultures that partially emphasize ideology, Bitgets corporate culture is to implement pragmatism. Everything is result-oriented. Those who do not produce results are eliminated, and those who are capable and produce results are rewarded. It is simple and efficient. This also seems to explain from a cultural level why the Bitget exchange and its affiliated wallets, investments and other ecosystems have made rapid progress in the past one or two years.
Kraken: The Ten Commandments, a must-read for crypto professionals
Before founding Kraken, Jesse Powell ran a video game virtual goods marketplace called Lewt, but was plagued by payment issues.
In 2011, when Jesse and his wife discovered Bitcoin, they sold Lewt and founded Kraken, believing that if they could drive Bitcoin adoption, it would improve the lives of billions of people.
Since its inception, Kraken has been embodying the cyberpunk and liberal values of its founder Jesse, but like Coinbase, in the increasingly politicized United States, Jesse has been accused by the American media of gender and racial discrimination.
After the public opinion storm, Kraken issued a corporate culture declaration Ten Taclemandments, and encouraged those who did not conform to the company culture and values to resign with 4 months salary.
Krakens Ten Commandments have also become a classic in crypto corporate culture.
1. Crypto is for everyone
Bitcoin removes politics from money. This means that anyone can freely transact on the Bitcoin network as long as they can cryptographically prove control of their keys.
2. You must have a sense of mission and belief
At Kraken, our mission is to accelerate the global adoption of cryptocurrency because we believe it will improve the lives of billions of people and enable a new era of human prosperity.
3. Keep up with the cryptocurrency industry or you’ll be left behind
Reconnaissance and intelligence gathering are a key part of our strategy, and decentralized decision-making requires all of us to be informed.
4. Know yourself and your enemy
Every customer-facing product should be familiar to everyone at Kraken. No Kraken person should shy away from being asked to describe or demonstrate any product our customers use.
5. Professional but “comfortable”
Kraken people are focused on results, which is why we value skills and knowledge over credentials and performance. It’s also why we work remotely in our pajamas instead of in the office in suits.
6. The pursuit of life, liberty, and sound money
The crypto movement is rooted in “dangerous” ideas, such as that all humans have fundamental rights: cryptography, free speech, free markets, currency choice, open source software, personal and financial privacy…
7. At some point, you will be offended
If no one is offended, we either dont have enough diversity of thought or enough transparency in our communications. If it feels easy or comfortable all the time, youre probably doing it wrong. The ideal Kraken person is thick-skinned but kind-hearted.
8. Our mission is unique
We don’t have a second mission, which means that when we encounter some problems, the only basis for judgment is whether doing this thing will help achieve our ultimate mission.
9. A global perspective drives true inclusion
Hiring should be based on merit, not just qualifications or vision. Diversity is not just about superficial differences in physical features, but diversity from different backgrounds and cultures around the world. Silicon Valleys view of the worlds diversity is dangerously limited and commoditizes individuals. We emphasize equal opportunity regardless of background.
10. The key to becoming a Kraken: Chivalry
Bureaucracy must die, and we are determined to avoid the vicious death cycle of bullshit and bureaucracy as the company grows in size. Therefore, we try to keep teams small, designate DRIs, and despise office politics.
After the release of the Kraken Ten Commandments, it quickly gained momentum, with most people inside and even in the crypto field standing on Jesses side. Less than 1% of Kraken employees resigned, and due to the influence of the Ten Commandments, Kraken received a large number of job applications, which seemed to illustrate the importance of corporate culture.
It is not difficult to see that, similar to Coinbase, Kraken is also plagued by interference from ideology and political correctness. At this time, a clear and concise corporate culture is particularly important, not only to attract like-minded employees, but also to set up a warning sign to tell some people not to come.
Upbit: Trust and Endeavor
A little-known fact: Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency trading platform in South Korea, is not a native cryptocurrency exchange, but a subsidiary of a fintech company.
In 2012, South Koreas financial technology company Dunamu Inc. was officially established and received investment from K Cube Ventures (now Kakao Ventures) the following year. In 2014, Dunamu launched the securities trading platform Stockplus. It was not until the second half of 2017 that Upbit was officially launched with the help of the US cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex. It is now the most valuable company under Dunamu.
Talking about Upbit’s corporate culture, it is essentially the same as Dunamu’s corporate culture. It can only be said to be very fintech and not crypto at all.
Dunamus mission is: Connect Unlock Value , to create new value by connecting different topics and win the trust of customers with technology that benefits the world.
“We launched Stockplus because we believed that the core of the securities market would shift from desktop to mobile. We also had confidence in the evolution of blockchain and launched Upbit, Korea’s first mobile-based digital asset exchange. We were fortunate to accurately grasp the change in trends and continue to technologically develop the trading of all value objects to make it convenient and simple for everyone. Now, we further challenge our borderless technology expansion to unlock previously unimaginable value. ”
Dunamu has two core values:
Trust : Everyone at Dunamu is an expert in their field. Customer trust in our services is our top priority, so we respect the opinions and decisions of our colleagues, and our culture of horizontal communication based on trust enables us to launch convenient and secure services.
Drive : Even when we are already in a leading position, we still pursue faster progress. Once we focus on the goal, we can eliminate the fear of failure and seize opportunities to lead change. Customers are at the core of all our decisions. We always research, explore and work for customers. Our leaders make fast and accurate decisions based on horizontal communication.
Compared to the meticulous corporate culture of platforms such as Kraken, Dunamu’s corporate culture is very simple and direct, and does not particularly emphasize the vision of cryptocurrency and blockchain. They just want to do one thing, keep improving, and gain the trust of users.
Perhaps due to the financial industry background of its parent company, Upbits internal management is extremely strict. For example, they strictly restrict employees and their immediate family members from selling and exchanging crypto assets on Upbit, and have established the Upbit Market Monitoring System (UMO). Dunamu publishes a transparency report on the Upbit website every year.
When it comes to listing coins, Upbit also maintains a very cautious and strict attitude, which makes the entire Upbit very mysterious in the industry.
In summary, Upbit is essentially a financial technology company that trades crypto assets. It strictly demands itself with the high standards of the financial industry and extremely pursues the trust of users.
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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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