Written by: Zuo Ye
CEX is simultaneously developing on-chain trading tools, wallets, and Perp DEX, while ironically censoring CEX users for compliance, which is inherently contradictory.
In our era, everyone is driven to madness, without exception.
Artificially Creating Crisis, Crypto Roma
Compared to Roma being impacted by 3C and facing work stoppages, OKX's problem is the lack of internal checks and balances, completely driven by the founder's self-will.
Artificially creating a public opinion crisis cannot accelerate the compliance process.
Star Xu's "commanding" statement rejecting "loan swiping" users shocked the entire crypto community, which is different from the responsible Star Xu people were familiar with.
In public memory, early OK was a very responsible entity:
In 2020, when OK faced regulation, the "private key management" explanation gave the public a profound understanding of crypto: Not your Keys, Not your Money;
In 2025, when OK faced regulation and needed MiCA licensing for compliance, they proactively suspended the DEX aggregator in OKX wallet, leading to being overtaken by Binance and losing market share.
Of course, this can be interpreted differently. If suspending services for regulation means OK doesn't earn money, other service providers can earn instead. However, this time OKX's special regulatory action against users is utterly confusing.
For the sake of going public, this is untenable. From DiDi's emergency IPO being urgently ordered to rectify, to Binance's compliance costs of CZ's imprisonment + fines + exit + rectification, even stopping BUSD issuance, these were all stopped only after being discovered.
But OK is different from everyone, directly telling users in advance, "I'm going to take action against you". The core issue is not compliance problems, but the attitude towards users.
Image description: OK admits compliance misjudgment, image source: @star_okx
Ultimately, it will ferment in the public opinion arena and must be approached from there. OK's global compliance team of 600 people must also dynamically adjust according to market conditions. If OK ceases to exist, even perfect compliance becomes meaningless.
At its core, this is not a compliance issue, nor a debate about whether loan swiping and crypto trading should be accepted. For the latter, the best response is no response.
This is a public relations crisis with extremely distinctive characteristics, most absurdly initiated by the founder himself.
Unlike Binance's dual-core drive, OK's true controller is only Star Xu himself. Regarding circulating rumors, as enterprises grow, they become uncontrollable. It's hard to say who is more innocent, and this is not the core factor affecting business competition.
Star Xu's will is OKX's will. OKX has no independent will. In the founder's dominant corporate culture, no executive can raise objections, let alone opposing views.
JD's Liu Qiangdong can make executives line up to report and directly dismantle the brand department, reassigning it to a more market-oriented marketing department;
After CZ's release, he cannot directly manage Binance again but can "influence" it, with Binance accepting market influence and lawyers ensuring compliance.
Which approach is more sophisticated is self-evident. OK's current problem is that the founder is clearly unsuited to be in the public relations frontline but insists on interacting with the market and triggering repeated public opinion crises.
A prediction can be made: if OK does not isolate its founder, future public opinion storms will continue to emerge. It would be better to hand it over to professional managers.
Professional managers seek to avoid mistakes, while founders wanting to achieve merit are truly terrifying.
Binance Continues to Win, Crypto Liu Xiu
Liu Xiu is different from Liu Bang, he is fortunate. Liu Xiu is different from Liu Bei, he is fortunate.
If luck could be a person's synonym, it would be because opponents contributed their misfortune.
Current exchanges are not doing well. Bybit struggled after being hacked, Bitget faced retail investor criticism, Gate/Matcha are doing small-scale business, Huobi belongs to Sun, Coinbase and Kraken are rooted in the US.
Not to mention Deribit has been sold to Coinbase. A new round of exchange integration has begun. With trading enthusiasm already low, the competition is about making fewer mistakes, stabilizing customer base, rather than embarking on new journeys.
The only ones capable of competing with Binance were centralized OKX and "decentralized" Hyperliquid, but now only the latter remains.
Image description: Exchange 24H capital flow, image source: @OKLink_CN
Not using defillama data, OKLINK's own data shows OKX is experiencing asset outflows. While withdrawal movements have only "killed" FTX before, that was the once-famous FTX.
The market has repeatedly criticized Binance, and other competitors are working hard. For example, Bybit actively participates in the Solana ecosystem, with its Perp DEX Byreal using Solana technology stack, first supporting xStocks stock trading.
All exchanges must consider how to operate under compliance, which is not an easy task.
Compliance issues since 2022 involved high leverage at BitMEX, FTX, and Binance - a moral issue, money laundering a legal issue, offshore operations an operational issue.
Currently, only Binance maintains the composure of an old artist. FTX has vanished, BitMEX exists in name only. If you think compliance is just talk, you clearly underestimate its dangers.
Previously, Binance withdrew its Hong Kong exchange license application because it couldn't include mainland customers. Hong Kong is serious about compliance, with many offshore exchanges choosing to "preserve market, abandon license" - OKX HK was among those withdrawing license applications.
In this era, exchanges are anxious, needing to comply and get licensed while facing the real impact of DEX.
The latter's pain, regulators will never understand. It can be predicted that licensed CEX will next attack unlicensed DEX. Believe me, Coinbase, which can launch Stand With Crypto against congressional members, can also target Hyperliquid.
Binance is working on Alpha, stabilizing the wallet market stolen from OK, expanding BSC, occasionally ambushing Hyperliquid, and thus outrunning everyone.
OK's wallet and product tactical success ultimately facilitated Binance's strategic win. Who can judge its merits and faults?
Conclusion
In the crypto world, avoiding fate, metaphysics, and political topics becomes increasingly difficult. With a scientific and rational attitude, we can explain cosmic motion and tidal changes, but it's hard to explain why a certain cryptocurrency rises or why OKX fights with its users.
We can only sigh: It's not that the opponent is too strong, but that peers are too foolish.
