O KX DEX has officially completed the upgrade and is back online , returning to the market! At the 2025 Web3 Festival in Hong Kong, BlockTempo of interviewing Aaron, Product director of OKX Web3 Wallet, to gain an in-depth understanding of his philosophy of building a wallet from a user's perspective, and how the team flexibly follows market trends and leads the technology trend under a global compliance framework.
Breaking through security and innovation: OKX DEX's philosophy of restarting
Dynamic Zone : Thank you Aaron for taking the time to accept this interview. In fact, the re-launch of OKX DEX is of great indicative significance to the entire industry. It is not just a simple return, but an upgrade of the entire system. Could you please talk about the background of this DEX's proactive suspension and upgrade? Especially in terms of on-chain security, what key technical enhancements have you made?
Aaron : With common on-chain security incidents, we find that while decentralization brings us freedom, it also comes with some risks. Decentralized trading platforms represented by the OKX DEX aggregator may be exploited by some malicious actors. These hacking behaviors are extremely covert. They often evade supervision and tracking by dispersing funds to thousands of addresses and completing multiple rounds of transfers and cross-chain operations in a very short period of time. This complex operation has very high requirements for on-chain data analysis, and traditional analysis is difficult to effectively respond to due to latency.
Therefore, OKX DEX proactively suspended services and initiated system-level upgrades to address this challenge. We recently developed our own "black address" monitoring system. It can analyze complex on-chain fund flows in real time, dynamically mark suspicious fund paths, and immediately intercept asset exchanges and cross-chain transfers once an anomaly is detected to prevent user assets from being "contaminated." This capability is based on OKX Web3's long-term technical accumulation in multi-chain data analysis and cross-chain behavior identification, marking a qualitative leap in the aggregator's security capabilities.
From Degen to Product Manager: User-Driven Product Design
Dynamic Zone : I heard that the product team of OKX Wallet itself is composed of various senior chain players. You yourself have also been fighting in various encryption waves as a P player. What impact has this "player perspective" had on product creation?
Aaron : It can be said that my team members and I are actually heavy Web3 users. I officially entered the blockchain industry in 2020. My previous background was traditional Internet. We have caught up with several major waves of craze in the past few years - from the rise of DeFi, the NFT craze to the later Meme coin Summer, my team and I have participated in it personally. For example, in the early days we helped a public chain build a DeFi ecosystem, and at that time I deeply experienced the fun of DeFi Farming .
We basically participate in any new thing, even if it means losing money, because, to put it in a more artistic way, we want to be close to the pulse of the market. Only when you really hold it and experience the gains and losses yourself, can you know that feeling; otherwise, listening to others' talks will ultimately be someone else's experience.
Because the team itself is an in-depth player of various products, we can directly empathize with the users’ pain points . We are often able to detect at the first glance what functions users need and what inconveniences they encounter. For example, I remember clearly that for a while, senior players in the community proposed that they hope to be able to directly input the hexadecimal data of transactions into the wallet to interact with the smart contract, skipping the cumbersome DApp front-end interface. Although this is a small geek-oriented request, we thought it was really useful after hearing it, and supported it in our wallet within a few days. We are proud of our ability to flexibly iterate and discover ideas from the user community and respond quickly to them .
Technology support: AI assistant and security moat
Active Zone : OKX Wallet has always been at the forefront of technological innovation. What we particularly want to know is how you integrate the recently popular AI technology into wallets? What enhancements have been made to ensure asset security?
Aaron : When it comes to AI, my opinion is that it is currently just a tool to improve efficiency , and is far from the level of so-called general artificial intelligence (AGI) (no one can say whether AGI can be achieved). Since it is a tool, we will consider how to introduce it into various scenarios of the wallet to reduce the burden on users and improve efficiency. Whether it’s on-chain data analysis, transaction information integration , or helping users automatically perform certain operations, as long as it can make the experience more convenient, we are happy to try it.
To be honest, the OKX team has been paying attention to AI for a long time, but when we launch related products, we must ensure that they are robust and have practical uses (Solid) , and we will not launch them just for the sake of popularity. The so-called "AI craze" that the industry is talking about now is different from actually integrating AI technology into Web3 products.
The wallet of the future I imagine may have an AI assistant - for example, providing intelligent suggestions when you are operating, or even acting as your trading assistant. Although these have not yet been fully realized, the direction is very clear, which is to use AI to improve user experience and lower the threshold for use.
Of course, everyone jokingly says that the ultimate goal is to "let AI help me place orders and make money", but then again, this is a paradox in itself (because if everyone makes money, there will be no losers), so our more pragmatic attitude is to regard AI as an auxiliary means, and continue to observe and explore its best use in the wallet.
As for safety, this is absolutely a top priority that we have invested a lot of energy in this year. There are many scams and malicious contracts on the chain, and we must build a safe wall for our users. Currently, OKX Wallet has built a very comprehensive malicious monitoring mechanism: there is comprehensive scanning and risk identification for various targets such as contracts, tokens, DApps, etc. We do use AI technology to help mark suspicious addresses or contracts, but this is only auxiliary. The core still relies on the security database and strategies we have accumulated. All these warning information will be displayed in red on the signature page, which is very intuitive.
Through this multi-layer protection, users can be prevented from stepping into "toxic" pools and falling into hacker traps. I believe that as long as we continue to deepen and refine the security mechanism, we can greatly enhance users' trust in the wallet. This is also a major advantage of OKX Wallet as a leading product.
Insight into the craze: Meme coin craze and new trends in AI
Dynamic Zone : This year, market topics have shifted from Meme coins to AI concepts. How do you view the rotation of these trends? How does OKX Wallet stay sensitive to trends?
Aaron : The overall market situation has actually felt like it has entered "garbage time" recently. Everyone is out traveling and there are no obvious main hot spots. Instead, everyone is taking the opportunity to attend various meetings and communicate. When there are no new stories, the market is in a short buffer period, but as the old saying on Wall Street goes - "money never sleeps" (capital is always looking for new opportunities).
I think Meme coins will continue to exist in the future , but I don’t know which topic will trigger the next explosion. Maybe it’s AI, maybe it’s something else, it’s not clear at the moment. After the AI concept became popular for a while, it did not immediately bring about a sustained sector market, and everyone calmed down and built, waiting for the next big project to emerge. But what is certain is that once a new trend emerges, OKX Wallet will fully support it .
As mentioned earlier, our team is immersed in these trends and is very sensitive to market trends. In short, whether it is Meme, AI, or other future trends, OKX Wallet hopes to be the first stop for users to embrace new trends. At the same time, we will protect everyone through our security mechanism, so that users can make more money with fewer risks when chasing trends.
Compliance and innovation go hand in hand: Steadily responding to global competition
Dynamic Zone : As a leading global wallet product, how does OKX Wallet ensure compliance while innovating and iterating? What is your attitude towards the actions of other giants in the market?
Aaron : Innovation and compliance are not actually in conflict. We have very clear standards internally on what is compliant, and we also have a very strong compliance team to check. Any new product feature must be reviewed by the compliance team before it can be launched. Our product managers will of course try to be as bold as possible in their ideas and charge forward. The compliance department is like our brakes; if any idea crosses the line, they will strictly veto it.
Therefore, the functions that users see online must comply with regulatory requirements. We will never ignore regulatory risks in order to innovate, but we will not stop moving forward for fear of making mistakes - the key is to find a balance between the two. OKX Group has invested huge resources in this area. We have done a solid job in compliance, and we also believe that only steady innovation can go a long way.
As for competition, I personally hold a very open attitude. We respect any other explorations of our peers. It is a good thing for everyone to build an ecosystem together. If what they do can help the entire industry prosper, we would certainly like to see it happen. To some extent, it is educating new users for the industry and bringing more traditional users in to experience DeFi together. I think this attempt itself is very cutting-edge and bold. It allows users to directly use exchange funds to purchase on-chain projects, shortening the path from CEX to DEX. We will certainly keep a close eye on and study such new trends .
Ultimately, I believe that as regulatory trends develop, most large platforms will eventually choose a "separate but collaborative" model like ours: the CeFi part follows compliant operations, and the DeFi wallet part remains open and innovative. At the same time, the two are connected to each other through a safe and compliant bridge. As for competition, we will continue to observe and learn from its advantages, but more importantly, we must do what we should do, speak with product strength, and lead the next stage steadily .
This article is for reference only. This article is not intended to provide (i) investment advice or an investment recommendation, (ii) an offer, solicitation or inducement to buy, sell or hold digital assets, or (iii) financial, accounting, legal or tax advice. Digital assets (including stablecoins and NFTs) are subject to market volatility, involve high risks, and may lose value. Please consult your legal/tax/investment professionals regarding questions regarding whether trading or holding digital assets is appropriate for you. OKX Web3 Wallet is only a self-hosted wallet software service that allows you to discover and interact with third-party platforms. OKX Web3 Wallet cannot control the services of such third-party platforms and does not assume any responsibility for them. Not all products are available in all areas. Please be responsible for understanding and complying with local applicable laws and regulations. OKX Web3 Wallet and its related services are not provided by OKX Exchange and are subject to the OKX Web3 Ecosystem Terms of Service
