In this TNGlobal Q&A with Jeff Mei, Chief Operating Officer at cryptocurrency exchange BTSE, he offers a detailed look into the company’s trajectory in the digital asset industry, including its origins and ongoing development of advanced trading platforms. From its founding in 2018 by a group of seasoned traders and technologists, BTSE has consistently leveraged in-house infrastructure to respond to the fast-changing landscape of cryptocurrencies. Mei’s background in global finance and crypto exchanges has positioned him to guide BTSE’s growth and diversification of its services.

Central to the conversation is BTSE’s adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to advance both product offerings and user experience. Mei highlights the newly launched AutoTrader feature, an AI-driven solution that aims to automate and optimize trading strategies. By integrating predictive modeling and risk assessment, this platform seeks to provide both transparency and ease of use, meeting the demands of both individual users and enterprise clients in need of AI-assisted trading services.

Mei also shares insights into the broader interplay between AI and crypto, emphasizing how AI can streamline trading and reshape investor-fund relationships. He notes that BTSE remains watchful of regulatory shifts across different regions and maintains a focus on AI governance, balancing innovation with responsible growth. As the company continues to innovate, it keeps an eye on emerging AI trends that could redefine the way digital assets are traded and managed globally.

Can you tell us your background and how BTSE was started? What was the inspiration behind it?

I’m originally from Los Angeles, and began my career in banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. I later transitioned to the tech space in Beijing in 2014, and worked with numerous tech startups and VCs, including 500 Startups and HNA Ecotech. As we started investing in and incubating more Web 3 projects, I took an interest in crypto and blockchain and later on joined Huobi Global, leading strategy and overseas expansion.

At Huobi, then the second-largest global crypto exchange, I gained deep expertise in crypto products and services while leading operations in over 40 countries. After Huobi, I served as CMO for ChainUp, a blockchain infrastructure provider, before joining BTSE, which operates as both an exchange and infrastructure provider. Given my experience in both areas, this company was a natural fit and I joined as a partner and COO.

BTSE was founded in 2018 by a team of top traders and programmers from leading investment banks and tech companies. The company has always been focused on technology. Its systems and infrastructure are all built and maintained in-house, which enables us to adapt quickly to the ever-evolving industry. The original inspiration behind BTSE stemmed from our desire to use our robust technology to deliver user-friendly, secure trading services for retail investors. The goal is to not only run our own exchange, but also share this intuitive, all-in-one solution with any operator globally.

Our clients understand the local market and users the best; our goal is to provide them the tools to operate. Our suite of products not only facilitate cryptocurrency transactions, but also offer advanced trading tools, AI trading, futures trading, and fixed income “earn” products. We now service over 100+ different enterprise clients, in addition to our B2C exchange business which boasts close to 3 million users.

What are some of the key milestones and highlights the company has hit this past year? Anything you’re most proud of?

In November we launched AutoTrader, an AI-assisted automated trading platform where users of all levels can invest in algorithmic strategies developed by trading professionals. We provide you strategies that professional teams use, all in a few clicks. It’s something that we had worked on for nearly a year as we felt that existing copy trading platforms were becoming outdated. Many copy trading platforms are reliant on influencers to create strategies, but lack staying power as the traders who create the strategies are not transparent in their trading and tend to exit after they’ve made their profits. It’s also hard to vet such influencers. We wanted to create a platform that was more systematic and reliable for our users in the long run.

AutoTrader does this by leveraging AI to anticipate and respond to market signals, automating the buying and selling of crypto assets; each strategy has built-in take-profit and stop-loss orders and is designed to weather extreme market conditions. We offer full transparency; through the AutoTrader dashboard, users can see all of the buy and sell orders executed. Additionally, we offer thousands of strategies, with multiple strategies for each cryptocurrency so that users won’t run out of options to copy.

AutoTrader is designed to help users get used to the prospect of investing in cryptocurrencies. We hope that after users have success profiting from AutoTrader strategies, they’ll be more willing to trade on their own and try out some of our more advanced products, such as spot or futures trading from the order book.

Since launch, AutoTrader has attracted over hundreds of thousands of new users and our corporate clients have also expressed interest in white-labelling and rolling out similar services to their end users.

How has BTSE embraced AI in its products/services?

Our new AutoTrader platform deploys AI to enhance trading strategies and risk management. The platform utilizes AI algorithms and direction from various professional trading teams to analyze market trends, optimize trading performance, and act decisively when responding to signals. The platform also uses AI to test thousands of strategies, using a set of criteria to filter out underperformers and short-list outperforming strategies for end users to invest in. We are constantly looking for more ways to enhance our operations and product design with AI.

As we hear more conversations on AI and crypto, what are some of the synergies between the two, in your opinion? How are we seeing these synergies manifest themselves?

The intersection of AI and cryptocurrency presents numerous synergies. AI can enhance trading strategies by providing real-time analytics and predictive modeling, which can lead to better investment decisions over time. Additionally, AI-driven tools can help identify market patterns and automate trading processes. We are witnessing these synergies manifest through the development of AI-powered trading bots, risk assessment models, and enhanced customer support systems that help respond to and address user inquiries.

What are some exciting developments in AI that you are watching closely? Any predictions?

We’re looking closely at AI agents and how certain platforms such as Eliza and Virtuals are enabling people to build their own AI agents that assess and respond to crypto market signals. At some point, people will be able to use such technologies to launch their own AI-assisted funds and also fundraise for them. This could completely redefine the traditional relationship between general partners (GPs) and limited partners (LPs) in the fund space, leading to increased transparency, lower fees, and a more diverse range of limited partner investors.

What are some regulations related to crypto/AI that you are following, and how will these impact your business?

We closely monitor regulatory developments concerning both cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence. We pay close attention to crypto licensing frameworks in different countries, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. As for AI, we do keep an eye on AI governance regulations, especially concerning data privacy and ethical considerations.

Image credit: BTSE