This in-depth interview features KY, founder of QuBitDEX, a veteran practitioner spanning traditional finance, AI, and cryptocurrency, and former core architect of Tether (USDT). Having navigated four industry cycles and witnessed the FTX incident, KY was driven to establish QuBitDEX out of a sense of responsibility to address the core pain point of user asset security.

Article author: Melody Tsai, 0x9999in1

Article source: ME

QuBitDEX aims to build a next-generation financial infrastructure that combines the millisecond-level performance of centralized exchanges (CEXs) with the asset sovereignty and security of decentralized exchanges (DEXs). To this end, the team not only developed a high-performance Layer-1 public blockchain called QuBitChain, but also natively supports ZK (zero-knowledge proof) technology to address performance, cost, and transaction privacy issues.

KY emphasized that QuBitDEX's differentiated advantage lies in its deeply integrated AI engine from day one, designed to help users upgrade from "trading faster" to "trading smarter," providing intelligent routing and decision-making tools. The team is comprised of top industry talent, including trading system vendors, quantitative finance experts, and former CEOs of top CEXs, possessing deep technical and market experience.

Regarding ecosystem development, QuBitDEX will focus on perpetual contract DEX and steadily introduce diversified assets such as RWA to serve global investors. The product is currently in beta testing, and a Proof of Contribution points airdrop program has been launched to reward early community participants. KY believes that with the right timing, location, and people in technology, market, and team, now is the perfect time to redefine decentralized trading.

KuoYeh Shen (KY), founder of QuBitDEX, was one of the core architects of the USDT stablecoin during its founding phase. He also served as an advisor to Bitfinex, deeply involved in its trading system and clearing design. KY is a true builder in the crypto world. He is not only an expert in trading systems, but also a thought leader across finance, AI, and blockchain. KY, a PhD candidate at Tsinghua University, is committed to bringing his deep theoretical knowledge and practical experience to QuBitDEX, redefining the future of decentralized trading.



In this issue of MetaEra, we invited KY for an in-depth conversation to learn about his ups and downs in personal experience, his unique insights into the crypto market, and how QuBitDEX is building a new platform that combines the efficiency of centralized exchanges with the security of decentralization through technological innovation, ecological collaboration, and compliance development.

Personal experience: From the creation of USDT to QuBitDEX

0x9999in1 : Hello KY, it’s a great honor to invite you. Before we delve into the founding of QuBitDEX, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

KY: Hello everyone, I'm KY, founder of QuBitDEX. I hold master's degrees in computer science, mechanical engineering, and finance. I entered the financial industry straight out of college, starting with a position at Taiwan's largest investment bank, responsible for pricing financial derivatives and foreign exchange derivatives, as well as algorithmic foreign exchange trading. This experience allowed me to quickly grasp the complexities of the financial markets, especially the foreign exchange market, and laid the foundation for my future foray into the cryptocurrency industry, where I held the highest position below general manager.

Later, I was drawn to the concepts of cryptography and blockchain technology and became involved in the development of the crypto industry early on. I was deeply involved in the founding of USDT. I participated in the early preparations for Tether and also served as an advisor to Bitfinex, then the largest USD-to-cryptocurrency trading platform. It can be said that I was a practitioner in the wild and early days of the cryptocurrency industry.

While I was pursuing my PhD in Computer Science at Tsinghua University, I served as the chairman of the Tsinghua University Blockchain Association (TIBA), facilitating exchanges between industry leaders such as Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood at the Tsinghua Lecture Hall.

Before I founded QuBitDEX, I was running a crypto early-stage venture capital fund.

These experiences, coupled with my research focus on the intersection of AI and blockchain, ultimately led me to a single point: We must use the most cutting-edge and reliable technologies to build a next-generation financial infrastructure that truly belongs to users, freeing them from the worry of asset security. This was my original aspiration in founding QuBitDEX.

QuBitDEX founding motivation: Why did you choose DEX among so many tracks?

0x9999in1 : KY, you have a unique background, spanning traditional finance, AI, and blockchain, and you're an early architect of industry-grade infrastructure like USDT. After experiencing multiple industry cycles, many might opt to step back and become investors or advisors, but you chose to personally lead the creation of QuBitDEX. We're curious about what drove you to make this decision.

KY: Founding QuBitDEX felt more like a responsibility to me. Coming from a background in traditional finance, I experienced the 2008 financial crisis and witnessed the fragility of centralized systems. Later, I passionately embraced the world of crypto and was deeply involved in the early development of platforms like USDT. However, the collapse of FTX made me realize that without 100% control over user assets, the so-called "crypto" is just a castle in the air. User asset security is the cornerstone of the entire industry and currently its biggest pain point, a problem I must address.

The blockchain world offers many exciting opportunities, but exchanges are the epicenter of value discovery and liquidity, the heart of the entire ecosystem. Throughout the industry's development, exchanges have proven to be the most successful and cash-flow-efficient business models. They are more than just a business; they are a crucial strategic advantage, the gateway to all future financial innovation. We believe that whoever can securely and efficiently solve transaction problems in a decentralized manner will define the next generation of financial infrastructure.

We chose now because the timing, location, and people are right. Technically, high-performance public blockchains, ZK, AI, and other technologies are only now truly mature and capable of supporting our vision. The lessons learned from FTX have provided the most profound user education in the market, and the demand for asset sovereignty has reached an unprecedented level. As for our team, we are fortunate to have gathered a group of top-tier talent who share our mission. Therefore, now is the perfect time to build upon our accumulated experience and make a breakthrough.

The Birth of QuBitDEX: The Assemblage of the Industry's Top Team

0x9999in1 : What kind of team is QuBitDEX, which builds a high-performance L1 public chain and builds complex trading applications on it?

KY: Okay, the founding of QuBitDEX stems from our team's unique "genes and culture." We are not a team of pure tech geeks, nor a team with a pure financial background, but a deep fusion of the two.

We have a deep understanding of the industry and have experienced several bull and bear cycles in the industry. This has led to different growth ceilings for the exchanges we build. The genetic makeup of the QuBitDEX team members gives them a clear advantage. The exchange's business model is very mature and is a battleground for strategists. We place greater emphasis on a community-first culture, where users not only get easy-to-use products but can also work with the team to create products. The strength of the community is our core competitiveness.

Regarding feasibility: We are more focused on demonstrating that the team can complete a cold start in the market with limited resources, has strong execution capabilities, has experienced more than four industry cycles, and has successfully created multiple crypto trading platforms. This is the entrepreneurial confidence we have for QuBitDEX.

The core team members are: Regarding technical architecture, our head of technology is a highly experienced "trading engine system provider" in the industry. He previously founded a company that provided underlying trading system code for hundreds of trading platforms, including Bitget. Trading is essentially finance, and QuBitDEX's head of finance is a seasoned quantitative finance expert with over 18 years of experience. He serves as a designated liquidity maker for renowned crypto trading platforms, including Wintermute, Jump, and Kronos. Our head of business development was a core shareholder and CEO of a top-ranked global centralized trading platform. He led the team from scratch and ultimately led the company's successful acquisition. Everyone on the team has achieved excellence in their previous work, but precisely because of this, we have become more aware of the limitations of the old paradigm.

Technical Vision: Reshaping the DEX Paradigm with ZK

0x9999in1 : Combining the efficiency of CEXs with the security of DEXs is arguably the industry's "holy grail." Could you explain this in more detail?

KY: You're absolutely right. This is truly the industry's "holy grail." Our slogan is "Trading experience like a centralized exchange, with the security and sovereignty of a decentralized exchange." I believe users shouldn't have to make the painful trade-off between the two. We rely on two key technologies: our proprietary L1 public blockchain and zero-knowledge proofs (ZK).

We have been thinking about how to ensure the security of user assets while providing a smooth transaction experience. The team concluded that we must build a dedicated highway from the bottom up. To find a dynamic balance between decentralization and performance, our strategy is:

1. Use high-frequency applications to drive L1 cold start: Focus all resources to optimize the perpetual contract DEX application. Trading itself can bring the most authentic users, trading volume, and cash flow. It is the first and most powerful engine that drives the entire ecosystem.

2. Avoid unnecessary reinvention of the wheel: Our L1 is designed to be highly composable and open. Our "Global Liquidity Network" will proactively aggregate liquidity across the entire market. Once we set the stage and get the show started, it will naturally attract more developers and users.

3. Maintaining a Commercial Focus: We are fully aware of our limited resources, so we will maintain extreme focus in the early stages. QuBitDEX's goal is not to be a "full-service" public chain, but rather to be one with significant advantages in transaction performance and user scale. By first penetrating this single point, gaining market trust will naturally follow.

We built our own high-performance public chain and natively supported ZK smart contracts on L1 from day one. This allowed us to significantly increase TPS while solving two problems with previous-generation DEX trading platforms:

1. Performance and Cost: Expensive fees and delayed interactive responses will become a thing of the past.

2. Privacy Protection: ZK can also solve a deeper problem: privacy. Once the positions of highly leveraged traders are made public, they may become market "prey." ZK technology can provide privacy protection for these transactions while ensuring that every trade is executed correctly. Vitalik and CZ are forward-thinking and are both promoting the importance of ZK. What we are doing is thoroughly engineering and productizing this industry consensus.

0x9999in1: How will QuBitDEX stand out? What unique value will it bring to users?

KY: We deeply respect industry pioneers, whose outstanding products have proven that high-performance DEXs are the future direction of the market. QuBitDEX aims to build on this foundation and provide users with even higher-dimensional value. I believe that the next stage of competition for DEXs will be an upgrade from pure "speed" to "intelligence."

The biggest difference with QuBitDEX is that we've deeply integrated an AI engine into our architecture from day one. For users, this means we provide more than just a trading execution tool; we also provide a "brain" to assist in decision-making.

・At the transaction execution level, our AI intelligent routing can help users automatically find the optimal transaction path across the entire market.

・At the trading decision-making level, we will gradually launch AI-based on-chain data interpretation, market fluctuation warning and other functions in the future. Our goal is to lower the threshold for ordinary users to obtain Alpha (excess returns).

While other DEXs are still focused on enabling users to "trade faster," we want to help users "trade smarter." We provide more than just tools; we empower users with AI intelligence. This is our unique value proposition.

0x9999in1: You mentioned that QuBitDEX will introduce diversified crypto assets, which is still a cutting-edge exploration in the current crypto market. Does this mean that the platform will serve a wider range of global investors?

KY: Yes, I firmly believe that the diversification of crypto assets is a bridge connecting global investors, and the irreversible trend of trillions of assets being put on-chain in the future. QuBitDEX's self-developed L1 architecture is designed to carry complex assets.

QuBitDEX's asset strategy is to advance steadily: to fight a war, one must "fight steadily", never fight an unprepared battle, and only act after thorough research.

Our business philosophy is "do the right thing + do things right". We cannot make mistakes, do not be greedy for small profits, do not seek strange strategies, and are down-to-earth and steady.

I believe that to create a great cryptocurrency trading platform, we must follow this "long-term value orientation". This thing is very simple to say, but there are very few people who actually do it. The vast majority of people in the industry are speculation-oriented and money-making-oriented. As a platform, we must follow the business model of "water benefits all things without competing."

RWA (real world assets), which have been discussed a lot recently, is also an asset we recognize and is in line with our value orientation of serving a wider range of global investors.

Ecosystem and Community: Points System and Long-term Development

0x9999in1: I'm thrilled to hear that QuBitDEX's product has launched in beta. Could you share more information on whether it's too late to participate?

KY: Yes, our products are already being launched in stages! All narratives will soon enter the implementation phase.

We have all witnessed how outstanding industry pioneers like Uniswap, Dydx, and Hyperliquid have created tremendous value for their early user members through carefully designed airdrop programs, which is also our goal.

Our airdrop mechanism is based on "proof of contribution," not simply "proof of funds" or a zero-sum game. From the moment we launch, all contributions from early participants on the platform will be recorded and used as a key indicator of future airdrop eligibility and weighting. I sincerely invite everyone to experience QuBitDEX's products and provide valuable suggestions and feedback.