Gate’s Dr. Han: Exchange to Build Web3 Infrastructure

Gate founder Dr. Han marked the company’s 13th anniversary with an open letter announcing a strategic shift from trading services to building Web3 infrastructure. The letter identified tokenized real-world assets, integration with traditional finance, a shift from centralized to decentralized finance, and artificial intelligence as priorities. He set 2025 as a year for structural progress with a focus on liquidity, risk management and global compliance.

Dr. Han wrote that he left a postdoctoral path in optoelectronics more than a decade ago to pursue blockchain and crypto development. He described Gate’s growth from a single founder to an organization of nearly 3,000 people and said the platform now serves tens of millions of users worldwide. He recalled early team gatherings as formative for the company’s approach to product and engineering work.

The letter outlined technical and market priorities: linking crypto assets to real-world collateral through tokenized RWA projects; integrating traditional finance systems with on-chain protocols; enabling the platform to interact with decentralized finance; and applying AI to improve trading efficiency, risk controls and decision-making. On trading, the company plans to continue strengthening liquidity and risk management across spot and derivatives markets.

Dr. Han addressed governance, compliance and localization as actions to operate in markets with higher regulatory standards. He described an “Intelligent Web3” initiative completed after an intensive near-two-month effort. The letter framed these efforts as part of a longer-term investment approach that accepts short-term setbacks while building system-level capabilities.

“I once told the team that, over the years, the cost we’ve paid for our mistakes has exceeded a billion dollars,” he wrote. The letter noted Gate maintained discipline during market euphoria and continued investment in downturns. It added that platform behavior in bear markets-remaining rational under pressure, cautious about risk and committed to first principles-defines its character.

The letter characterized the 13th year as a transition from a builder role to shaping industry structure. “We are building connections between users and assets, liquidity and innovation, and opportunities across markets,” the letter stated. Dr. Han thanked users, partners and staff for their trust and reiterated the company’s commitment to ongoing investment and responsibility for its strategic choices.