Source: OKX

The concept of "Financial Freedom" is often misunderstood. It does not mean being without rules, but rather having the right to choose within the existing rules — and when the system is truly tested, it remains reliable and effective.

This is exactly what we have been focusing on throughout 2025.

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our global customers, partners, and regulatory authorities. A secure and healthy crypto ecosystem is never the sole achievement of any one party. Only when responsibility and collaboration are seen as part of an open system, rather than restrictions hindering its operation, can an open system truly thrive.

In 2025, OKX achieved value-driven growth, thereby continuously raising the industry's core standards in reliability, transparency, security, and accessibility. On the journey towards the future, the following areas are crucial for me and my team:

Reliability: The First Premise of "Financial Freedom"

In 2025, the repeated market volatility largely exposed the failure of some systems and control mechanisms. Severe market fluctuations, chain-reaction mass liquidations, and concentrated derivative expirations posed significant challenges to global trading infrastructures.

Late August: Concentrated derivative expiration events coupled with high market volatility led to service interruptions, order delays, and brief halts on several major platforms.

October: A rapid market sell-off triggered over $19 billion in liquidations within 24 hours (data reference: CoinGlass and The Block).

I am proud to announce that during these two market events, OKX operated smoothly throughout. Trading, deposits, withdrawals, and risk control systems were not interrupted. On October 11, our system's processing capacity reached a new high — while maintaining only a 20-microsecond order delay, it handled a record-breaking 1.72 million transactions per second.

This level of reliability has been the solid foundation established by OKX since its inception. The infrastructure we have built continues to prove its leading position in the industry. This is not just a slogan but a result of years of going through cycles and being validated numerous times by extreme market conditions.

Security, Market Integrity, and User Protection

We continue to increase our investment in system security, anti-fraud measures, and market monitoring. This includes actively combating large-scale fraudulent activities (such as "Ponzi schemes"), maintaining long-term cooperation with law enforcement agencies worldwide, and taking decisive actions to delist and restrict activities that harm users' interests.

These efforts have also been recognized by the industry. For example, blockchain investigator ZachXBT and prominent cryptocurrency analysis firm Chainalysis have both mentioned our collaboration achievements multiple times. Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin, while testifying at a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing in August, specifically referenced the cooperation experience among OKX, Chainalysis, Tether, and law enforcement in combating fraud.

In an open market, true openness can only be maintained through proactive eradication of "cancerous growths."

Moreover, there are still incidents of hacking within the industry. This year, two major platforms were attacked again, exposing billions of dollars in user assets to risk. It is for this reason that over the years, my team and I have always adhered to one principle: security first. Relying on in-house technology and native development has consistently been our approach. This single measure has significantly reduced the risk of being attacked.

Simultaneously, we continue to invest in user education. Content like "The Mild Mild West" raises public awareness, helping more people understand that in the financial market, governance, rules, and enforcement are not barriers to innovation but are the foundation that safeguards long-term trust.

Asset Transparency: Verifiable at All Times, 100% Reserved

Throughout 2025, we have always maintained a 3%–5% surplus in asset management to ensure that user assets are fully supported at all times.

We have never ceased to publish monthly Proof of Reserves (PoR) reports:

• Beginning of the year: Total asset size exceeded $240 billion

• End of the year: This data grew to over $315 billion

• Reserve Ratio: The reserve ratios of BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC have maintained levels above 100%

These reports are independently reviewed by third-party security and audit firms like Hacken and are open to public verification through the Merkle Tree proof mechanism.

Our Proof of Reserves mechanism has been recognized by multiple industry analysis firms and media as one of the most stable and transparent practices in the industry.

Transparency should not be built on slogans but should be presented through repeatable, verifiable facts.

Self-Custody, an Accessible Right

We are continuously expanding our self-custody capabilities, introducing new solutions around wallet products, including Passkey authentication.

This not only significantly reduces reliance on traditional passwords and single points of failure, allowing a broader range of users to securely and conveniently control their assets.

A truly open financial system must allow users to choose how their assets are custodied: some prefer regulated platforms, some choose institutional-grade custody, and others insist on full self-custody.

Only when these choices are real and readily available can freedom truly exist.

Institutional Trust and Public Recognition

We have deepened our collaborations with global financial institutions such as Standard Chartered, DBS Bank, etc. Our progress in custodial arrangements and fiat integration has been widely covered by mainstream media such as Bloomberg, CoinDesk, etc.

These partnerships reflect the market's confidence in OKX—whether in governance structure, asset custody segregation, or risk management capabilities.

Without trust between users and institutions, an open financial system cannot truly scale. These partnerships are crucial bridges between the two.

Product-Driven Choices: Simplifying Complexity

In 2025, we launched several products aimed at expanding access and reducing complexity. These include:

• New UI Design: Significantly improving usability and lowering the entry barrier

• OKX Pay: Focused on real-world applications and payments, rather than pure speculation;

• CeDeFi Innovation: Combining on-chain access with centralized risk control, with initial support for Solana and Base trading products;

• Compliance Atlas Expansion: Deepening presence in the Americas and Europe, and expanding derivative business in regulated regions like UAE, Australia, etc.

In Brazil, the launch of OKX Pay made us the most downloaded crypto app in December.

Vision behind Scale

Our partnerships with the McLaren F1 team and Manchester City football club continue to expand OKX's global reach. These partnerships, accompanied by the two major championship wins by the team and club, have brought billions of brand exposure, introducing us to more people.

As we enter new regulated markets, in 2025, OKX's global trading platform volume increased by 16%, DEX volume surged by about 262%, and daily wallet active users grew over 100% year-on-year.

By the end of the year, our global user base has exceeded 120 million. While this milestone has been widely reported, we see it more as a responsibility than a destination.

Only "scale" supported by a system, risk control, and long-term vision is meaningful.

What Freedom Looks Like

We don't often talk about "freedom" because it is easy to proclaim but hard to achieve. In practice, freedom manifests as:

• A system that remains stable under extreme pressure;

• Assets that can be verified rather than just promised;

• Proactively clearing abusive behavior rather than a tolerant market;

• Providing truly usable self-custody solutions for genuine users;

• Connected to the global financial system, not a self-isolated open network.

Everything we build in 2025 — from system stability, reserve transparency, to wallets, CeDeFi, and regulatory compliance — is to expand financial access without compromising trust.

This is my commitment to every customer and the team working together to build the future. Let's enter 2026 together with strength and a sense of responsibility.

This article is contributed content and does not represent the views of BlockBeats

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