Source: OKX

As TOKEN2049 approaches, the eyes of the global finance and crypto industry are once again converging on Singapore. On October 6, the OKX NOW Global Product and Ecosystem Conference was held here. Guests from crypto, payments, banking, and global trading institutions gathered once again, bringing their products, practices, and reflections into the same conversation about financial transformation.

At the opening of the conference, OKX CEO & Founder Star Xu shared OKX's next step: starting from crypto trading, building for the next generation of users, and creating a global fintech platform covering funds, payments, trading, and asset management.

In his explanation, when technologies such as the internet, crypto, and AI meet, financial services also have the opportunity to keep up with the digital lives people have long been accustomed to: always connected, easy to use, and better able to understand each person's needs.

But beyond technology, there is still much work that needs to be done together. Star emphasized that building global financial services also requires trust, regulation, governance, and local responsibility. The integration of crypto and traditional finance brings together the technical capabilities, liquidity, institutional experience, and service networks of both sides, providing a foundation for broader financial applications.

This is precisely why the conference is named "NOW."

For years, markets going global, assets moving on-chain, funds flowing around the clock, and AI participating in financial services have often appeared in industry discussions in the future tense. What NOW focuses on is the moment when these ideas are transformed into products and enter actual use: what users can already do today, which capabilities are being connected, and which partnerships allow them to keep operating sustainably.

At the conference, OKX showcased a series of products that have already been launched, as well as new capabilities continuously being expanded on that basis. TradFi perpetual contracts, Pre-IPO perpetual contracts, and unified tokenized stock trading bring crypto and traditional financial assets into a unified trading experience, expanding options for around-the-clock trading. On the Web3 side, OKX Wallet, the DEX trading terminal, and DeFi products connect on-chain asset discovery, trading, and management; ExchangeOS will open shared trading infrastructure and liquidity to developers through XIP, supporting the construction of on-chain markets, with related spot and perpetual markets soon to enter public beta. On the AI side, products such as Agent Trade Kit, OnchainOS, and OKX AI connect market analysis, trade execution, and agent services, and the upcoming AI Bot supports the creation of personalized trading strategies through natural language. OKX Money extends the use of digital assets to everyday transfers, spending, and savings.

From product to ecosystem, the conference discussions also deepened: the future of finance is happening—what needs to be done well?

Bringing funds into daily life, completing the last mile of payments

In discussions about the future of money, a simple question has been repeatedly raised: what kind of financial experience do ordinary people actually need?

OKX Global Managing Partner & CMO Haider Rafique mentioned that people are already used to using internet services around the clock, and naturally expect financial services to be available at any time. But for users outside the industry, wallet addresses, seed phrases, gas fees, and different blockchain networks remain a complex language. Users' more direct need is to conveniently use their own money, transfer money to friends, or complete a purchase.

OKX Money, as a standalone app, is built around these needs. Built on X Layer, it uses self-custodial smart accounts to connect transfers, spending, savings, and asset management scenarios, and is currently available in more than 30 countries. Serving broader daily needs beyond trading has also become an important direction in discussions between OKX and payment partners.

Raj Dhamodharan, Executive Vice President of Blockchain and Digital Assets at Mastercard, added to this picture from the perspective of payment networks: when consumers tap a card to ride the subway or shop online, they do not need to understand the underlying banking networks, foreign exchange conversion, and fund clearing. In the future, even if the payment channels used in the background change, a simple experience and reliable trust will remain important.

How a cross-border payment is truly completed therefore became a concrete example in the discussion. When remitting money from Dubai to the Philippines, on-chain transfer speed is only one part of it. If the recipient needs "pesos," local around-the-clock liquidity, competitive exchange rates, and compliance support at both the sending and receiving ends are also required. Only by connecting these links can funds truly reach users' lives.

Haider introduced that the current focus of OKX's cooperation with Mastercard is on card products. Raj said that as OKX expands from a trading account to a general funds account, the two sides are also studying opportunities in payments, collections, and agent commerce, including how agents can pay for services and receive income.

Ideas about programmable money and global payments are finding their footing in these specific links. For users, the more complete the collaboration behind the scenes, the simpler it becomes to use funds.

Markets Never Sleep, and Liquidity Must Keep Up

Once capital can flow around the clock, how assets can be traded around the clock became the focus of another panel discussion.

Extended trading hours bring a series of practical problems. For market makers and trading institutions, an around-the-clock market means cross-regional risk handovers, weekend margin management, and upgrades and maintenance while trading systems continue to run.

Tom from QRT pointed out that after traditional markets close, trading teams still have to face newly emerging macroeconomic or geopolitical information. Without familiar real-time price references, institutions need to rethink risk models and quoting methods. At the same time, being able to efficiently move funds among wallets, sub-accounts, and different trading venues will also create an operational advantage, ultimately reflected in capital efficiency and quote quality.

These problems are especially prominent in products related to traditional assets such as equities. When the underlying market is closed, new information does not stop appearing, and users' trading demand does not disappear in tandem. Around-the-clock trading venues therefore begin to take on more of the function of price discovery.

Jeremy from Ludisia believes that this change has already happened: some equity-related products remain active on digital asset trading venues while traditional markets are closed. As traders increase, information can enter prices more promptly, and the market also has the opportunity to form richer liquidity.

To accommodate such demand, exchanges need to continuously improve their foundational capabilities. In addition to order book depth and stable trading latency, corporate actions such as stock splits, reverse stock splits, and dividends also need more standardized and programmatic handling. For institutions holding larger positions, these details directly affect risk management and the trading experience.

In the discussion, Jeremy affirmed the performance of OKX's technical infrastructure. OKX also responded that it will continue to invest in engineering and infrastructure construction, support the growth of related markets, and make the handling of corporate actions an important direction for product optimization.

The TradFi trading capabilities, on-chain trading tools, and open infrastructure previously demonstrated by OKX have now received a more complete explanation: products provide the entry point to the market, while professional participants and continuously built trading mechanisms enable the market to operate over the long term.

"Always On" therefore also has a more specific meaning. It is both the experience of users participating in the market across time zones and the work that trading platforms and liquidity partners complete together every day.

Banks and Trading Platforms Move Closer Around Shared User Needs

The collaboration between "banks" and "trading platforms" has further extended into funding services.

Evy Theunis, Managing Director and Head of Digital Assets at DBS Bank, noted that early asset tokenization often started from the supply side: putting a building or a bond on-chain one by one, but this did not necessarily achieve scale. Today, large trading platforms like OKX have user bases and distribution channels that can aggregate diverse asset demands, creating conditions for more asset classes to enter the tokenization market.

In the view of Amy Tan, Head of Technology and Innovation Economy for Asia Pacific at JPMorgan, trust, liquidity, and settlement efficiency remain key to expanding adoption. Banks are advancing blockchain technology applications, but they also need to understand the real needs of different clients: some enterprises already require round-the-clock funding services, while others are still in the process of gradually adapting.

Luke Boland, Global Head of Fintech Client Coverage at Standard Chartered Bank, focused on the settlement foundation. How tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and other digital currencies interoperate will affect the progress of more real-world assets entering on-chain markets. Banks' accumulated strengths in cash management, liquidity, and trust can be connected with the technology and service capabilities of digital asset platforms.

This kind of cooperation has already gone beyond the scope of early services. Luke mentioned that by partnering with exchanges like OKX, banks can gain a deeper understanding of digital asset needs in different markets and explore directions such as custody, collateral, and institutional services. The users, institutions, liquidity providers, and stablecoin issuers connected by trading platforms also bring broader space for ecosystem cooperation.

David Fragale, Senior Managing Director and Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets at Western Alliance Bank, spoke about the value of cooperation from the perspective of technical capabilities. He believes that digital asset platforms have accumulated expertise in key management, trading systems, and round-the-clock operations, and that through cooperation, banks can respond more quickly to the growing digital asset needs of corporate clients.

When the discussion returns to individual users, some expectations also become particularly simple: when they want to participate in the market on weekends, can they obtain usable funds in time; when holding different types of assets, can they view and use them in a familiar interface; and in the future, can AI agents help handle payments and banking services.

Around digital asset collateral financing, the guests also discussed the possibility of starting exploration with assets such as Bitcoin, including arrangements such as custody, collateral haircuts, and loan-to-value ratios. These still need to be advanced step by step, but they show that banks and exchanges are extending cooperation into more specific client needs.

The convergence Star mentioned in the opening has found clear parallels in these conversations: banks, payment networks, and digital asset platforms each bring their own long-accumulated strengths, seeking problems they can solve together. The next phase of financial services will also gradually take shape through such collaboration.

Make today's progress become everyday experience

From product showcases to ecosystem dialogues, OKX NOW demonstrated the close relationship between product implementation and industry collaboration.

Trading connects a broader range of assets, Web3 lowers the barrier to on-chain usage, AI further bridges analysis and execution, and Money brings digital assets into everyday financial use. The participation of payment partners, liquidity institutions, and banks gives these products the potential to connect more scenarios and continuously serve users.

The "NOW" conveyed at this conference also includes a long-term undertaking: continuing to build on capabilities that have already been implemented, accumulating trust in different markets, and making products and services stand up to everyday use.

In the end, the changes people feel may be very small. A transfer that arrives smoothly on a weekend, a payment that can be completed without understanding technical jargon, and the convenience of participating in the market at a time that suits you.

The discussions at the conference will eventually come to an end, but the advancement of products and partnerships will continue. For OKX, the future of finance moving from "beginning to happen" to "happening now" means starting from the products and experiences that can already be delivered today, and working with more partners to bring these conveniences into more people's lives.

This article is from a submission and does not represent the views of BlockBeats

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