What is your impression of OKX? Is it “OKX? Isn’t it OKEx?” or “It seems like it has been established for a long time”? If these are your answers, then this article will take you back to review OKX’s 2023 and get to know OKX again!
(Background:
Exchange Transformation: Binance’s market share drops to 38% at the beginning of the year, OKX doubles its growth)
Table of Contents:
The second largest exchange globally, leading in liquidity
Established, transparent asset reserves, experienced two bull and bear cycles
For general investors and beginners
Exchange offers over 730 spot trading pairs; Web3 wallet DEX offers over 300K spot trading pairs
Redemption for professional traders: “Unified Account” and “Sub-Account”
Sub-Account feature designed for risk management
Unified Account designed for capital efficiency
Industry-leading all-in-one token ecosystem
Brand cross-collaboration
Conclusion
In 2023, as Bitcoin surged, the Web3 industry presented a new atmosphere, with token ecosystems such as BRC-20 and tokenized assets blooming. OKX integrated with sports and entertainment giants to establish a new communication channel, becoming a way for young users to access Web3 innovations.
OKX’s growth in the past year is evident. According to the “2023 Annual Report on Cryptocurrency Exchanges” released by TokenInsight last month, as of the end of last year, OKX’s market share rose to 16.1%, with a year-on-year growth of 4.3%, ranking as the second largest exchange globally and the exchange with the highest growth rate in 2023.
(Source: TokenInsight, CoinMarketCap data)
OKX’s derivative trading volume in the past 24 hours reached 12.64 billion US dollars, ranking second globally, and its spot trading volume exceeded 1.3 billion US dollars, leading in liquidity.
For users, liquidity is the second most important factor when choosing an exchange, with security being the first.
Established, transparent asset reserves, experienced two bull and bear cycles
After the FTX bankruptcy incident, the first requirement for investors or users is security. As an exchange established in 2017, OKX has experienced two bull and bear cycles.
If we consider last year’s bear market as a deleveraging or stress test, OKX has already passed two rounds of stress tests. As of now, OKX has published asset reserve proofs for more than a year, totaling 15 times, leading the industry in asset transparency.
OKX provides two types of asset proofs:
Third-party audited reserve proof
Merkle tree proof
(The latest proof is zk-STARK): Users can check whether their assets are included in the exchange’s assets.
The latest reserve proof released by OKX shows a BTC reserve rate of 102%, and the reserve rates for ETH, USDT, and USDC are all 104%. The total value of these four mainstream currencies exceeds 14.9 billion US dollars. According to DefiLlama data, OKX’s total reserve assets value exceeds 15.6 billion US dollars, ranking second globally.
For general investors and beginners
In addition to security and liquidity, OKX’s user-friendly interface is also highly welcomed by users. Its design is intuitive and clean, and the usage tutorials for trading products are detailed.
OKX is the first exchange to integrate the exchange and its own developed Web3 custodial wallet on its website. The upper right corner includes “Profile” and “Features Overview.” Users can set their identity verification and account settings in the Profile section, and in the Features Overview section, they can choose spot trading, contract trading, wealth management products, etc., according to their needs.
What’s more, OKX’s product design is comprehensive, supporting credit card purchases of cryptocurrencies, spot and contract trading, financial management products, and even integrating Web3 custodial wallets. It provides an all-in-one service from depositing, trading, and withdrawing, with a clean web design that is easy to use.
OKX always puts user needs first. In 2023, OKX launched more than 10 new products based on market demand, covering structured wealth management, strategy trading, and other business lines. It has created a product matrix of different categories, covering various user groups with different needs. The development team also continues to iterate existing products, continuously improving the user experience.
As of December 2023, the number of users using strategy products exceeded 600,000, and the number of global users participating in financial products, such as SimpleCoin, exceeded 500,000.
(Extended reading:
Exchange: An Overview of OKX’s Top 10 Popular Trading Strategies and Financial Products)
Below are the highlights of OKX for general traders and beginners:
OKX offers over 730 spot trading pairs (stablecoins and crypto-to-crypto trading), including mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin and WFI. Unlike other exchanges’ cluttered interfaces, OKX categorizes its trading pairs, including DeFi, GameFi, NFT, and meme coins, allowing users to easily navigate.
Apart from spot trading, OKX, known for its derivatives, also offers leverage trading, perpetual contracts, options trading, etc. Experienced traders can amplify their profits through leverage trading, while beginners can use contracts for shorting and hedging unnecessary risks.
Of course, leveraged and contract trading carry higher risks, so OKX also provides a “Simulated Trading” feature, allowing users to familiarize themselves with contract trading or strategies such as grid trading.
In addition to purchasing spot assets on the OKX exchange, users can also trade over 300,000 tokens on the OKX Web3 DEX, significantly improving investment efficiency and convenience. Many tokens that have not yet been listed on other exchanges can be bought on the OKX Web3 wallet, allowing users to get ahead of the game.
Professional traders’ redemption: “Unified Account” and “Sub-Account”
For professional traders, two things are crucial: risk management and capital efficiency.
Risk management includes identifying and monitoring risks, finding the causes of losses, and regularly reviewing one’s own strategies. Without proper risk management, even the most experienced traders can face significant losses. Unfortunately, the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, but exchanges have not designed corresponding risk management tools.
To address this, OKX introduced “Sub-Accounts.”
Sub-Accounts are divided into general sub-accounts and fund management sub-accounts. General sub-accounts assist in asset allocation, while fund management sub-accounts are designed for users who entrust their accounts to professional teams.
Trader Panda told Dynamic Zone that sub-accounts are beneficial for portfolio management. He can execute different trading strategies in different sub-accounts. For example, Account A focuses on spot trading, Account B invests in OKX’s wealth management products, and Account C may involve high-risk or new trading strategies. Sub-accounts allow him to easily manage assets and easily monitor and modify strategies for high-risk trading.
Another benefit is risk control. As mentioned earlier, the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile. Panda stated that his trading is quite complex and requires maintaining high capital efficiency. Sub-accounts can isolate high-risk strategies, preventing interference between accounts.
In addition to sub-accounts, OKX also has a feature called “Unified Account,” which was launched in December 2020 and has undergone comprehensive upgrades after global testing. In simple terms, the Unified Account breaks down the settlement barriers between different products, improving traders’ capital efficiency.
For example, in Panda’s account, he holds both BTC contracts and ETH contracts. The margin for the two contracts can be shared and profits and losses can offset each other, increasing capital utilization efficiency.
However, OKX’s optimization of the Unified Account goes beyond this.
OKX’s Unified Account has three modes:
Simple Trading Mode: In this mode, users can participate in both spot and contract trading. For example, they can hold spot assets and purchase put options to hedge spot prices. This mode does not allow leveraged trading and margin trading. It is mainly designed for novice investors or simple hedging needs.
Single-Currency Margin Mode: This mode allows spot trading, leverage, perpetual contracts, futures contracts, and options. Contracts with the same settlement currency (e.g., all settled in USDT) can share margins, improving capital efficiency. It is suitable for advanced investors.
Cross-Currency Margin Mode: This mode allows cross-currency full-margin mode, where contracts with different currencies can share margins, offsetting profits and losses. For example, BTC contracts and ETH contracts can share margins, breaking the limitation of different currencies and maximizing capital efficiency. It is suitable for professional traders.
In addition to the Unified Account and Sub-Accounts, OKX also offers other trading services such as strategy trading, copy-trading, NFT trading, and even mining pool services.
Industry-leading all-in-one token ecosystem
OKX is at the forefront of innovation in its products, closely following industry trends and launching diversified products for users. One of the most impressive aspects is OKX’s rapid development in the token field. In May last year, OKX’s Web3 wallet took the lead in the industry by launching the Bitcoin Token Ordinals trading platform, supporting users to mint and trade Bitcoin Token Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens.
Last month, OKX announced that it is the first platform to support four new token standards: ARC-20, SRC-20, Runes, and DRC-20. This makes OKX the most advanced all-in-one token ecosystem in the Web3 industry and the largest token market in the industry.
(Extended reading: OKX Chief Innovation Officer Jason Lau: Unlocking the Innovation of Tokens, Connecting Multiple Protocols ARC-20, DRC-20…)
Brand cross-collaboration
In terms of brand, OKX is expanding its brand influence through attending top cryptocurrency conferences and cross-collaboration with well-known Web2 brands. For example, OKX became an important sponsor of major industry events such as TOKEN2049 in Singapore, Web3 Carnival in Hong Kong, and Ethereum Devcon.
OKX also successfully partnered with global events such as the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League victory, achieving the “treble” in the 2022-2023 season, becoming the sole Web3 partner of many top brands. Furthermore, OKX is the first official sponsor of the golf team Majesticks GC. Renowned Middle Eastern singer and actor Ali Zafar serves as the global brand ambassador for OKX.
OKX is exploring and generating new value through the integration and collision of the Web3 industry and traditional industries.
(Source: OKX)
Conclusion
Overall, as cryptocurrency trading enters the mainstream, exchanges are constantly iterating their services and products. In 2023, OKX has made rapid progress in branding, products, and security.
If you are a beginner, you can consider starting with the simulated trading feature, and OKX offers over 730 spot trading pairs.
If you are a professional trader, OKX provides a comprehensive market for leveraged trading, perpetual contracts, futures, and options. The Unified Account and Sub-Accounts are well-designed for capital efficiency and risk control.
By paying attention to asset security, OKX regularly updates reserve proofs and Merkle tree proofs, providing users with traceable sources and peace of mind.
In addition, copy-trading services, strategy trading, NFT markets, etc., enrich the trading market, allowing users to fully explore the various possibilities of the cryptocurrency market.
In conclusion, besides being a leader in contract trading, OKX has transformed into a globally-oriented exchange and Web3 platform, offering a variety of trading services and financial products designed for different types of investors. It has become a giant exchange with a profound impact on the blockchain community and created possibilities for exploring more value in the cryptocurrency market.
(Images: OKX Official Website, OKX Official Announcement)