On January 24, 2026, Star, founder and CEO of OKX, attended the “New Yr’s Eve Dinner” occasion by way of video hyperlink, sharing his newest ideas with honest expression. The OKX “New Yr’s Eve Dinner” is a particular occasion for trade builders hosted by OKX to rejoice the Lunar New Yr collectively.
The next is the full textual content of Star’s speech (edited):
Yr after 12 months, we hope to proceed this occasion. We sit up for persevering with our journey with all Influencers, KOLs, and companions in the coming years, rising and attaining collectively in the subsequent decade of the Crypto and blockchain trade.
Let me briefly share a few of my reflections from the previous 12 months.
Seeing Trends in Business Evolution
I’ve spoken on many events about the way to view the Crypto and blockchain trade. From the beginning of Bitcoin in 2008 to at this time, this trade has been round for fifteen or sixteen years. Again then, we seen Bitcoin extra as “enjoyable beans” or sport tokens. At the moment, we did not actually perceive what blockchain was, nor did we all know how the trade would develop, the place regulation would go, or to what extent functions would attain—nobody knew.
As the trade advanced, Bitcoin, primarily based on blockchain, might initially solely do the easiest factor: concern tokens. Later, Ethereum emerged, stating that blockchain expertise couldn’t solely concern tokens but additionally host varied functions “like mini-programs,” positioning itself as the “working system of blockchain.”
Over the years, by way of collective efforts, together with ours at OKX, we now have performed an vital function in the Ethereum ecosystem. Right this moment, Ethereum has certainly grow to be the primary platform for DApps, with many financial-grade functions constructed on it. At the similar time, Ethereum is constantly evolving in direction of larger efficiency, and many high-performance chains, akin to Solana, have emerged in the market. OKX can also be exploring its personal path. Though X Layer continues to be in its early levels and not but mature, I imagine it is going to obtain nice success in the future.
As the trade developed to a sure stage, it attracted rising consideration from regulatory our bodies. Beginning round 2017, regulators’ angle in direction of the total trade leaned in direction of suppression. Nonetheless, after a number of years of improvement, I’ve seen some core tendencies altering.
The primary pattern is that regulators are step by step starting to acknowledge that the notion of “Bitcoin being equal to a cash laundering device” is unfounded. Any monetary system could be abused; the key’s that it *can* be abused, thus requiring governance and administration. Inside blockchain actions, unlawful habits really constitutes a really small portion. It’s extra akin to a globalized, open, honest, and clear monetary system.
The second pattern is that extra and extra younger individuals—these born in the 90s, 95s, and 00s—have grown up listening to tales about Bitcoin. My very own little one requested me what Bitcoin was a few years in the past. Perceptions throughout generations about “the place to position belongings extra securely” are altering. For individuals of my era, should you ask the place it is safer to place cash, I’d say giant banks, mature monetary programs, with merchandise being extra fashionable and user-friendly. However should you speak to the youthful era, lots of them really feel that utilizing instruments like OKX Pockets or Coinbase Pockets to handle belongings is safer and extra handy as a result of on-chain actions are clear, verifiable, and the person expertise is constantly bettering.
In relation to merchandise like stablecoins, individuals fear about potential rugs. Taking USDG for instance, if it operates beneath regulatory frameworks in the EU, Singapore, and doubtlessly the US in the future, logically, such a chance may be very small. Wanting additional at custody points: in self-custody mode, should you again up your non-public key, you may import your belongings into every other pockets—you may take your belongings away at any time; we merely shouldn’t have the potential to take your belongings. The custody half primarily pertains to the trade system’s custody. OKX has weathered many storms over the years. Whether or not it is our company governance construction, board governance, or our rising variety of compliance licenses globally, I imagine we have gotten more and more formalized and taking up extra accountability.
In opposition to this backdrop, the trade has skilled intense collisions over the previous 4 to 5 years. On one hand, some individuals query and even oppose cryptocurrencies; on the different hand, extra and extra persons are beginning to use Bitcoin or different crypto belongings. On this course of, Crypto is shifting in direction of a model new period.
Extra importantly, Crypto is aligning itself with “future tendencies.” Beginning from the US, the pattern of Crypto coming into the mainstream has prolonged worldwide: international locations and areas like the UK, EU, Japan, and Singapore have begun to view Crypto as an vital long-term path to face, construct, and incorporate into governance frameworks, even step by step elevating it to a stage of “nationwide competitors and strategic planning.”
