Cultivation and Mechanical Ascension: Binance and OKEx's "Great Dao" Conflict

2025-10-10 19:23

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In the long run, a healthy Web3 ecosystem needs disruptors like Binance to boost market dynamics and also requires key players like OKX to be infrastructure builders.

Original Author: Blockchain Knight

The crypto community has never lacked popcorn stories. In addition to the ups and downs of the market, there is always some topic for post-dinner chat. Just now, right after the "Binance Life" meme climbed to the top of the MEME chart, another hot topic emerged...

On October 8, Star from OKX published a lengthy response to the MEME craze, stating that the true future of Web3 relies not on emotions or speculation, but only on belief and construction. "OKX's mission is blockchain infrastructure, dedicated to enabling everyone to securely and smoothly interact across hundreds of public chains... We are engineers, geeks, dreamers, fulfilling our promises through products, code, and time."

Shortly after, on the evening of October 9, Binance partner He Yi published an article titled "Let's Cultivate Immortality Together!" in response, emphasizing the correctness of the Binance MEME craze with fairness. He stated, "The 'Binance Life' is not a bubble, but a sudden enlightenment on the path to immortality—we do not seek shortcuts, do not artificially hype, rely on every step of trial and error and accumulation, forging a smooth path for mainstream adoption."

He Yi also wrote, "Most users do not expect eternal profits; what users always want is fairness, fairness, and damn fairness. Users are not speculating on the 'Binance Life' or 'Customer Service Xiao He,' but underneath these CAs, there is a bit of fair play, opportunity, and consensus built up like grains of sand."

These two industry tycoons thus presented their own interpretations of the "Binance Life" in a distant debate. The former was full of geeky style, while the latter appeared somewhat spiritual in cultivation. But what exactly does this reflect, and how should we view this "debate"?

From "Cultivation Theory" to "Technological Ascension": Two Paths of Industry Evolution

At its core, "fairness" itself may not be the antithesis of either. OKX's launch of various Web3 wallet-centric basic tools is also a supporter of fairness. However, behind these different expressions lies the fact that Binance and OKX represent two completely different evolutionary logics.

Binance, like a cultivator, recognizes the law of the wealth effect, rises with the momentum, and achieves ascension. OKX, on the other hand, is like an engineer, dedicatedly building a comprehensive on-chain financial ecosystem. The strategies, current situations, opportunities, and risks of the two giants are different, presenting a stark contrast and providing two different development paths for the entire crypto industry.

Binance's co-founder He Yi's "Cultivation Theory" lengthy article reviewed Binance's entrepreneurial journey and mentioned, "Cultivation has no shortcuts; one must have a strong Daoist heart. Although the process is tortuous, by persisting in cultivation, one will eventually step into the realm of immortality." These words not only outlined Binance's growth trajectory since its establishment but also demonstrated its unique way of responding to the market.

With its flexible adaptability, deep understanding of market sentiment, and swift response to trends, Binance quickly attracted users, and its "cultivation-style" approach has won it a significant market share. However, in terms of development speed, this is not just any ordinary "cultivator," as the results are truly remarkable.

Meanwhile, OKEx's founder, Star, has always upheld the concept of "technological ascension." He believes that the true value of blockchain technology lies in a sustainable infrastructure and is confident that through long-term technological accumulation and regulatory compliance, it will eventually be possible to build an efficient, transparent, and trustworthy digital financial system.

OKEx's "engineering philosophy" and Binance's "cultivation philosophy" demonstrate two different styles of entrepreneurial endeavors, leading to different development strategies, current situations, and opportunities and risks in the future. This is also worth our in-depth analysis and contemplation.

Philosophical Differences between Two "Paths": Sensible Insights and Rational Construction

Binance's Path: "Seizing the Opportunity, Harmony Between Heaven and Humanity"

Binance's path can be summarized as "seizing the opportunity, harmony between heaven and humanity." It deeply understands market sentiment, accurately captures trends, and swiftly responds, acting as a top-tier market psychologist, precisely grasping user needs and emotional fluctuations.

In aspects such as product design, brand building, and community development, Binance fully exploits the human desires for the "wealth effect" and "sense of belonging." Through flexible capital operations and market narratives, it successfully creates a vibrant and ever-changing market ecosystem, pioneering a new development path.

Binance's strategy relies to a large extent on market fluctuations and trends, successfully establishing its presence in the market by rapidly capturing hot trends, creating topics, and brand stories. Through products like Launchpad and Alpha, it attracts a significant amount of funds to the platform, turning itself into a "capital playground," maintaining platform activity and market share through continuous trend creation and pursuit.

The advantage of this model lies in rapid growth, especially during times of high market demand or capital enthusiasm. However, this "cultivation-style" growth is not without risks; Binance's over-reliance on market sentiment fluctuations and trend creation poses more uncertainties.

Against the backdrop of market volatility and regulatory pressures, how Binance maintains long-term stable growth will be its most significant challenge. After all, market sentiment will not always be high, and no one can be on the stage dancing forever.

The OKX Way: "Everything Can Be Engineered"

Unlike Binance, OKX's strategic philosophy emphasizes rationality, science, and systematic construction. OKX firmly believes that the true value of blockchain is built on a reliable technical foundation, not on momentary market sentiment or capital operations.

OKX's "Everything Can Be Engineered" approach focuses on the accumulation of underlying technology, from wallet infrastructure to Dex aggregation optimization, from multi-chain architecture to API development. Every technological advancement and system iteration is an effort to build a transparent, secure, and compliant new era digital financial platform.

OKX's strategy further emphasizes technology accumulation and infrastructure development. Through continuous technological innovation, it drives the advancement of blockchain technology and is committed to enabling interoperability between multiple public chains. OKX believes that the value of blockchain ultimately lies in a compliant, transparent, and secure infrastructure.

Therefore, OKX actively seeks regulatory licenses globally, promotes the integration of Web3 with traditional finance, and continually enhances the platform's security, stability, and transparency, earning recognition from a large user base.

OKX's core strength lies in its built infrastructure and technological framework, allowing the platform to host existing financial products and accommodate future innovations. Interconnected blockchains, decentralized finance, cross-chain payments, and more are breakthroughs achieved by OKX through long-term technological accumulation and system development.

Although this long-term strategy is robust, it also has limitations. OKX's product updates often require more time to adapt to market changes, potentially missing short-term business opportunities. After all, in an industry where impatience is common, how many are willing to wait?

Can Two "Paths" Lead to the Same Goal?

To be honest, the futures of Binance and OKX are not completely contradictory. While their strategies differ, both are driving the prosperity and development of the cryptocurrency industry. Binance rapidly attracts users and drives market growth through the power of capital, while OKX steadily advances blockchain technology adoption through technical accumulation, aiming to provide the industry with a solid infrastructure.

In the short term, Binance's capital-driven model may have an advantage in market competition. However, if market sentiment shifts, and regulatory environments become stricter, it may face greater pressure, especially in the current environment where regulation is increasingly emphasized. OKX's technology-driven model, although stable, requires time to build a technological edge, continuously optimize user experience, or it may find itself in the awkward position of having a good product but lacking a large user base.

In the long run, a healthy Web3 ecosystem needs "wave makers" like Binance to stimulate market vitality, as well as "road builders" like OKX to solidify infrastructure. The complementarity of the two may bring more opportunities to the entire industry.

The grand narrative of Web3 requires not only "wave makers" like Binance that ignite market sentiment and attract attention, but also "road builders" like OKX that silently pave the way and build industry foundations. Ultimately, whether the narrative of "spiritual ascension" or the achievement of "technological ascension" is more moving will be verified by time and determined by global users through hands-on results.

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