Bitget Wallet’s Jack Zhai Explains How the Platform Is Built for ‘Everyday Finance’

From CoinEdition, we sat with Jack Zhai, the Head of Americas of Bitget Wallet, to learn where they are heading in the decentralized world. The spokesperson himself has over a decade of experience in different industries and firms, including Uber, News Break, and Hooked Protocol. 

Through his early career in the Web2 and Web3 worlds, he has realized the vital role of technology and how to make it adoptable by the market. With us, he explicitly discussed the strategy for Latin America on their approach to making stablecoin utility accessible to a broader market. In the interview with our team, Jack explains how Bitget Wallet is navigating challenges and making it an ‘everyday finance’ app.

1) Bitget Wallet now serves more than 90 million users worldwide. What do you think has been the biggest driver behind this growth, and how are you planning to expand further across America?

The biggest driver has been utility. Wallets used to be where crypto-native users stored assets or connected to DApps. That is changing. People now want one place to trade, pay, hold stablecoins, access onchain markets, and move money across borders.

For the Americas, we cannot use one playbook. North America already has mature banking and payment systems, so users are more focused on self-custody, tokenized assets, prediction markets, AI-assisted DeFi, and broader market access. They are not looking for a bank replacement; they are looking for more control and new financial opportunities. Latin America is different. In markets where local currencies can be volatile, payment experiences are fragmented, or cross-border transfers remain costly, stablecoins and wallets solve more immediate needs.

Our strategy is to localize around these differences – improving payment coverage, fiat access, and onchain market access through local partners, while making the wallet experience feel simple enough for everyday users.

2) As more users move toward self-custody and simplicity, security becomes critical. How is Bitget Wallet making crypto easier for everyday users while still keeping assets fully under user control?

Self-custody has always had a tension: the more control users have, the more responsibility they carry. For experienced users, that control is the point. For mainstream users, seed phrases, gas tokens, approvals, bridges, and fragmented networks can make crypto feel difficult before they even start.

Bitget Wallet is trying to make that first step feel familiar. Social login allows users to create and access a wallet through login methods they already understand, without giving up self-custody. Once users are inside the wallet, gas abstraction removes another daily friction point. They can swap, transfer, use stablecoins, and access DApps across chains without constantly managing native gas tokens.

Security then works in the background through transaction simulation, risk alerts, approval management, MEV protection, and smart contract detection. The goal is to make self-custody easier to start, smoother to use, and safer by default, without taking control away from the user.

3) You’ve worked across both Web2 and Web3 companies, including roles at Uber and NewsBreak. How have those experiences influenced the way you approach scaling crypto platforms today?

Uber taught me that technology can change the rules of an industry, but it still has to coexist with cities, regulation, payments, and local behavior. The user only sees a button, but behind that button is a complex system built market by market. NewsBreak gave me another lesson: distribution and localization matter as much as the product. You cannot scale consumer technology by assuming every market behaves the same way. You need to understand what people already do, then make the new behavior feel natural.

Crypto needs that mindset. We sometimes explain Web3 from the infrastructure outward – chains, protocols, gas, bridges. But users start with much simpler questions: Can I send money? Can I access markets? Can I protect my assets? Can I avoid making a costly mistake? At Bitget Wallet, my focus is to make onchain finance feel less like infrastructure and more like a practical financial app – useful, localized, and simple enough that users do not need to think about what is happening underneath.

4) Bitget Wallet describes itself as an ‘everyday finance’ app. In practical terms, what does everyday on-chain finance look like for users, and how do features like payments and stablecoins fit into that vision?

Every day, onchain finance does not mean everyone becomes a DeFi expert. It means crypto starts solving ordinary financial needs. In Latin America, this can be very concrete. A freelancer may receive stablecoins from a U.S. client. A creator may get paid faster through USDT or USDC. A merchant may accept crypto while settling through familiar local rails. In markets where people do not fully trust local currencies or payment systems, stablecoins can become a practical tool for saving, sending, and spending.

In North America., the picture is different. Users may use wallets to access tokenized assets, prediction markets, and crypto-native trading while keeping control of their assets. The need is less about replacing daily payments and more about expanding access to new financial products.

So, everyday finance is not one use case. It is about making wallets flexible enough to support different needs – payments in one market, market access in another – through the same self-custodial interface.

5) Regulation around crypto continues to evolve across America. From your perspective, how does Bitget Wallet navigate this changing landscape while still encouraging wider crypto adoption?

Bitget Wallet starts from self-custody: we do not custody user funds, and users remain in control of their assets. But self-custody does not mean ignoring local requirements. For fiat access, cards, payment infrastructure, and regional integrations, we work with regulated partners where appropriate.

I do not think the future is simply decentralization versus regulation. The industry has to move toward real use cases that can coexist with local rules. Uber taught me something similar: technology can challenge old systems, but to scale, it also has to build trust with users, partners, and regulators. For crypto, that means clear product design, user education, transparent risk disclosures, and responsible partnerships.

6) Looking ahead, what trends do you believe will shape the next phase of crypto wallets, and where do you see Bitget Wallet positioning itself in that future?

In five years, most mainstream users may not describe their activity as “Web3” or “self-custody.” They will care about whether a wallet helps them do something useful: access digital dollars, pay across borders, buy tokenized assets, use prediction markets, earn yield, or move money more efficiently. That is the role Bitget Wallet wants to play: turning onchain finance into a practical interface for everyday needs.

This shift will not happen through one trend alone. In Latin America, stablecoins are already entering real workflows, from freelancer and creator payments to remittances and cross-border trade. In North America, adoption is likely to develop more through settlement, trading, and onchain financial applications. At the same time, tokenized assets, DeFi yield, decentralized trading, and prediction markets are expanding what users can access directly from a wallet.

The next layer is intelligence. AI and account abstraction can make crypto less manual by helping users understand risks, find better routes, and execute actions through clear intents and permissions. The wallet then becomes less of a technical tool and more of a guided financial interface – one that keeps users in control while making onchain finance easier to use.

Conclusion

As a market observer, Jack Zhai shared futuristic insights through a session with CoinEdition. Looking at the development from his perspective reveals the deep connection Bitget Wallet is building with users, giving a sense of familiarity. The efforts of the platform to make it flexible highlight its commitment to turning onchain finance into a practical interface for everyday needs.