"OKX win big." This is one of the most popular words in the crypto community recently.
Over the past year or so, the CEX market has been changing subtly. Each major trading platform has faced its own difficulties and provided completely different solutions. Some have laid off employees drastically in an effort to increase revenue and reduce expenditures, some have earned transaction fees by listing contract coins, some have seized pricing power in the crypto market by becoming the "largest currency holding address", and some have exerted control over the market by listing small currencies...
After a short period of silence of about three months, the Bitcoin ecosystem has made a comeback. As the Bitcoin ecosystem continues to boom, OKX has become the "biggest winner" in this wave because of its smooth wallet products. After months of dormancy and accumulation, OKX has found a breakthrough for growth in this new track.
Explore opportunities
On January 30 this year, the NFT protocol "Ordinals" created by software engineer Casey Rodarmor was officially launched on the Bitcoin mainnet. Allows users to create Bitcoin versions of NFTs - "digital artifacts" - supporting JPEG images, PDF, video or audio format content. These "digital artifacts" are described on the Bitcoin network as "digital artifacts" or "NFTs."
In the official manual of the Ordinals protocol, Casey envisions Ordinals as a protocol for creating “digital artifacts” or “NFTs” through Bitcoin. However, as the Ordinals protocol develops, similar to many NFT projects on the Ethereum chain, these "digital artifacts" will be minted on the Bitcoin network.
With the market booming and high transaction volume, some OKX team members recognized the potential of this field through user feedback and market popularity, and foresaw that the Bitcoin ecosystem might become part of the future trend and saw the opportunities.
Unisat Bole
How does OKX achieve “value discovery”? On this issue, Jason Lau, chief innovation officer of OKX, told BlockBeats: “OKX has been very concerned about the Bitcoin ecosystem from the beginning. We are one of the first companies to support Bitcoin ecological innovation. One, including second-layer technologies such as Lightning Network, Stacks, etc. And, we are one of the only exchanges to provide funding to the open source Bitcoin developer ecosystem. To date, we have provided more than 1.5 million US dollars in funding. Yes It’s not hard for us to recognize the importance and groundbreaking nature of Ordinals.”
In the early days, there were actually very few players who were really committed to BRC, and UniSat was one of them. "Unisat = asset issuance (convenient for everyone with one-click Mint and LaunchPad) + asset trading (equivalent to BRC-20's Uniswap and OpenSea) + asset management (equivalent to MetaMask wallet)." Sea Talk manager and NextDAO co-sponsor 0xSea Express it on your own social platform .
"So Unisat's position in this ecosystem is very good, and they are the pioneers. Without the support of the Unisat team, the rise of BRC-20 will definitely be a few months later." In an interview with BlockBeats, 0xSea said this said. Like 0xSea, most Bitcoin ecosystem OGs share the same view.
Therefore, after having contact and in-depth communication with OGs and founders such as Ordinals protocol founder Casey Rodarmor and BRC-20 protocol founder domo, OKX continued to have in-depth contact with industry builders in the upstream and downstream industries like UniSat.
On May 12, OKX announced an official cooperation with the Bitcoin Inscription Wallet UniSat Wallet to jointly build the BRC-20 industry standard. Based on OKX's self-developed BRC-20 ledger analysis and index library, it decided to carry out double verification cooperation. At the same time, UniSat will also Become an OKX Web3 BRC-20 market data provider. In the future, OKX also plans to explore the exchange of BRC-20 order liquidity with UniSat and continue to jointly build the BTC ecosystem.
Make the cake bigger
In a previous interview with UniSat, BlockBeats asked its founder Lorenzo why he decided to open source the UniSat index parsing code? The answer given by Lorenzo is: "If we don't open it up, others will definitely be able to develop it. But if we open it up in time, we can give all developers a default reference, have confidence in their hearts, and can verify it as quickly and easily as possible at any time." "The code logic of UniSat is determined in this way." Having a homework on hand can save everyone's time and eliminate potential disagreements to the greatest extent. "
Related reading: " Exclusive interview with UniSat: Valuation rumored to be US$1 billion, a new leader in the Bitcoin track with a small team of 10 people "
OKX, meanwhile, has taken a proactive approach to the process. Through in-depth technical exchanges with UniSat, OKX proved its early investment in BRC-20 research and development, and also provided UniSat with valuable ideas in public indexing and cross-validation.
By the end of May, the OKX Web3 wallet fully integrated the Ordinals market. The wallet was deeply integrated with the OKX trading platform, providing diversion for users of the trading platform to migrate to the wallet. Together with airdrops and rewards, it has gradually become the first choice for many newcomers to the Bitcoin ecosystem. platform.
In the cooperation between UniSat and OKX, it can be seen that both parties have reached a tacit consensus on "making the cake bigger first". When faced with the question of "whether OKX will have an impact on UniSat," Lorenzo, the founder of UniSat, said: "This is a good thing for the entire Bitcoin ecosystem. Unisat was only in the Ordinals small circle in the early days and did not have the ability to do a lot of external work. We are happy to announce that even if only a small percentage of new users have a deep understanding of Ordinals and Unisat.”
Ace Industry Research
Why did OKX become the biggest winner of BRC-20? Some answers can also be found in OKX’s production and research.
In March, when Ordinals and BRC-20 were born, the OKX Web3 wallet was in the customer acquisition stage. In order to attract new users and promote activity, OKX used a variety of methods to attract new users and promote activity: NFT whitelist lottery to attract new users. New users and cultivate user habits, reduce users' transaction costs through Gas subsidies, such as the previous NFT limited-time transaction subsidies and LIDO pledge Gas return. In addition, OKX Wallet also uses free minting AI to generate NFT and Cryptopedia airdrop tasks to increase the wallet open rate.
After a series of marketing promotions, the growth in the number of OKX DEX users was immediately reflected. According to DUNE data, the number of OKX DEX users has experienced explosive growth since April. The total number of daily user addresses on the Ethereum chain at the beginning of the year was 12,205, and by June it had grown to 28,383, an increase of more than 130%.
Related reading: " Seven sets of data review OKX Web3 wallet first half of the year "
Quick project establishment
From discovering the Bitcoin ecosystem to finally making the decision to do it, OKX only spent a week or two.
Behind this series of data, OKX actually began to explore the wallet field as early as 2018 and 2019, and launched the first version of the on-chain wallet. However, OKX did not do much work in terms of user experience and interaction. Instead, we did a lot of basic research and adjustments at the bottom level, especially at the technical level. Later, when the smart contract platform gradually came to prominence after the emergence of Defi Summer, OKX began to realize that this area had huge potential.
"Since then, we have begun to conduct in-depth thinking and layout in this field." In an interview with BlockBeats, Jason, OKX Bitcoin Ecology Director, said.
Inspired by the Ordinals protocol, anonymous developer domo launched the experimental standard protocol BRC-20 on March 9, 2023. OKX began to discuss the development of NFT in the Bitcoin ecosystem in more depth. Soon after, the OKX team organized a sharing and discussion meeting within the OKX team to encourage team members to share their understanding and opinions. After reaching a consensus, the leader also participated and had some in-depth discussions, further believing that this new direction should be explored.
"Finally, we made an appointment with the senior management to make a report and talk about the Bitcoin ecosystem. In the end, we also reached an agreement and confirmed that we can actually try this thing. The whole discussion and decision-making process was very fast, about one day It will be completed within two weeks. "Jason continued to BlockBeats: "I think there will be a lot of room for development in the future of the Bitcoin ecological market. "
In terms of the Bitcoin ecosystem, the reason for OKX’s attention is also very simple. Bitcoin and Ethereum are undoubtedly the two most important markets. Ethereum's EVM ecosystem is relatively active, and OKX's early layout was also based on Ethereum. So far, we can see that OKX is developing very smoothly on Ethereum, with a very good user base and reputation. As for Bitcoin, this year has ushered in new opportunities. This is also a big opportunity for OKX to demonstrate more success stories in the Bitcoin market.
" OKX is the first large platform to pay attention to the Ordinals ecology, and it also launched Bitcoin Punks in its NFT market very early. " Bitcoin Pizzas founder c00k1e told BlockBeats that when the OKX-related Twitter account first started posting Ordinals-related discussions, some Ordinals players When I was excited, I was still hesitant and skeptical, worried that OKX was just here to attract attention, but OKX's painstaking research on the Ordinals ecology along the way broke all doubts.
From in-depth exchanges with UniSat and the announcement of cooperation to develop cross-validation of the BRC-20 index, to OKX Web3 Wallet becoming the most useful one-stop tool for Ordinals (especially support for mobile terminals), OKX's construction iteration in Ordinals is very fast. . For an industry giant like OKX, it is amazing to see such efficiency in the construction of the Ordinals ecosystem.
"As a Bitcoin NFT project party, we have been very honored to cooperate with OKX Wallet. The cooperation process was very smooth and progressed very quickly. I must and can only say that OKX deserves it." c00k1e added.
Steady progress
In the following period, OKX conducted a series of in-depth explorations and made steady progress.
On April 24, OKX introduced its own Web3 wallet. The Web3 wallet plug-in supports the display and transfer of Ordinals protocol BTC NFT; it created a one-click address switching function to pay network fees. When transferring BTC NFT, users can use other addresses in the current wallet. The remaining balance will be used to pay Gas to ensure the safe transfer of NFT.
On May 11, the OKX NFT market launched a free NFT airdrop event in conjunction with BTC Machines, the largest ecosystem of Bitcoin Ordinal. On May 24, OKX Web3 Wallet launched the Bitcoin Ecological Week event, covering three themed special events: prizes for holding coins, prizes for placing orders, and surprise airdrops. On June 1, OKX officially released the BRC-30 standard. Users can earn rewards by staking BRC-20 assets without selling their assets.
On May 13, Star stated that OKX and its partner Bitcoin Inscription Wallet UniSat Wallet are committed to building infrastructure for BRC-20 and ORC-20, including wallets, markets, liquidity exchanges and browsers. On May 14, Star announced on social media that OKX officially launched the BRC-20 browser. Can monitor BRC-20 Token details, position details, transfer details, etc.
This belief has laid a solid confidence and foundation for the OKX team. With sufficient resources and a group of excellent colleagues, they can work together to do this and make the product good. This is also reflected in OKX’s response speed to emergencies.
At that time, Ordinals founder Casey publicly expressed everyone's dissatisfaction with BRC20 on the Ordinals protocol. Casey During the launch of Odinos ODI versions 0.6 to 0.8, the market was once worried that the BRC 20 double-spending problem would occur.
In this emergency, OKX followed up quickly and quickly upgraded the version to stabilize market sentiment and prevent users from double spending.
In addition, a short story recently circulated in the community also makes people have to admire OKX's response speed. The community had some problems while using the OKX wallet. After receiving feedback, OKX quickly pulled a group of six people and fixed the problem overnight.
According to BlockBeats, the community’s experience with the OKX wallet is that it is easier to operate, has a lower threshold, and is more convenient to use on mobile phones. The OKX wallet is highly rated in social media and comments. Recently, Ethereum Inscription, which is very popular in the market, has also been divided into sectors, which shows OKX's attention to the market.
Jason further revealed to BlockBeats: "For OKX, what we value more is the development of the entire ecosystem and the construction of infrastructure in the huge Bitcoin market. These are the things we care about most. It is precisely because of such opportunities and opportunities , prompting us to continue to invest our energy and do more work on the trend of Bitcoin.”
After establishing the BRC-20 industry double verification and parsing standard and launching the first BRC-20 BTC browser, OKX released the BRC-30 standard, which users can obtain by pledging BRC-20 assets without selling their assets. Return. After the BRC-30 standard, it was renamed BRC20-S. According to BlockBeats, this name change has received a lot of praise. The pledge relies on the OKX index and there is no need to actually deposit BTC or BRC-20 tokens. For example, if you hold 2 BTC and mint a deposit inscription, it will be considered as a pledge, and then the income will be calculated based on the index.
Then the OKX Web3 wallet is connected to the BTCitcoin L2 network Stacks Network. STX is the native Token of the Stacks Network. Users can use the OKX Web3 wallet app to manage their STX assets.
With many developments in Bitcoin spot ETFs and driven by market sentiment, the Bitcoin ecosystem has unexpectedly ushered in a second spring. And OKX has become the real biggest winner.
luck? In fact, there are more
According to Dune data, OKX's current trading volume percentage and transaction share in the Bitcoin Ordinals market have reached 70%, and the total transaction value far exceeds several other trading platforms, ranking first in the industry. As a "BRC Bole" and a master of customer capture, OKX has reached out to and introduced many newcomers to the Bitcoin ecosystem for the second spring.
Especially in the past week, the rapid development of the market seems to confirm the correctness of OKX's decision to build infrastructure in these three months. During the Mavericks outbreak in the past two weeks, OKX's products have reached out to many new people entering the Bitcoin ecosystem, allowing everyone to have a more satisfactory product experience.
In addition, OKX's total trading volume in the Ordinals market, trading volume by market, and the number of single users by market daily users have all increased significantly in the past month.
In the initial stage, OKX invested a lot of resources to develop multiple features, but from August to October, OKX's focus shifted to polishing and improving the infrastructure. During this period, OKX focused its efforts on solving many issues that affected the smoothness of transactions. Although these improvements are not obvious for users with low frequency of use, for users who make frequent transactions, they greatly solve some problems that may arise in special situations.
"It is based on the understanding of these complexities that we have done a lot of work in the past three months to ensure that users experience a smoother and seamless service during the transaction process." Jason revealed to BlockBeats.
Behind all this is also closely connected with OKX’s macro strategy: “OKX has been keeping up with the market situation, and we realize that whether it is for EVM or the Bitcoin market, we need to continue to advance, not just be satisfied with the current situation. Some trading markets may add more currencies.”
Although OKX has strong R&D capabilities, they also realize that the Bitcoin ecosystem is only one part of the crypto market. Therefore, OKX chose to tilt some team members to allocate resources in matters related to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
OKX's investment in the Bitcoin ecosystem is not an additional injection, but a team member who has been continuously researching and promoting the Bitcoin ecosystem, and there are also different teams promoting multiple projects in parallel. "In periods when resources are relatively abundant, we will allocate our energy to EVM and other ecology or activities. But we do still have a lot of work to do in the Bitcoin field. The allocation of resources may be fine-tuned as the popularity changes. ” Jason said this in a conversation with BlockBeats.
Therefore, OKX's work is not only focused on Ordinals, but also focuses on many other potential areas during this time. For example, the Lightning Network is dedicated to solving problems in the payment field, the RGB protocol is designed to issue assets based on Bitcoin, and so on.
OKX found that exploring these different fields requires investing a lot of resources in industry and market research, as well as product technology research. It can be seen that even when the market was cold in June and July this year, and the market performance in September and October was mediocre, OKX did not slow down.
With this sudden surge in the Bitcoin ecological market and rapid growth in transaction volume, OKX said it could not foresee what happened. "From our perspective, behind the rapid implementation of the Bitcoin ecosystem into products is continuous attention and efforts to demonstrate our value. This is not the result of a short-term decision, but part of a long-term strategic plan. "Jason said. Specifically at the execution level, whether we focus more on output or market operations, these factors profoundly affect the DNA of a company.
This wave of success stories of OKX is not only a demonstration of technical strength and market sensitivity, but also a good example of accurate grasp of future trends and long-term strategic planning. By reacting quickly to the craze triggered by the Ordinals and BRC-20 standards and successfully capturing growth opportunities, OKX has set an important benchmark for the entire trading platform track: in a rapidly changing and uncertain market , those platforms that can adapt quickly, continue to innovate, and always adhere to user experience as the core will eventually win the recognition of the market and users.
OKX's success lies not only in its unique vision, technical strength and market layout to seize opportunities, but also in its deep understanding of the community and its ability to respond quickly. In addition, its careful layout in marketing and user experience, including but not limited to NFT whitelist lottery, transaction subsidies, multi-chain wallet support, etc., has also greatly promoted the platform's user growth and activity. Finally, OKX’s continuous investment and optimization in infrastructure, especially its strategic adjustment and resource allocation during the market cooling period, have laid a solid foundation for it in the ecological competition. These factors work together to ultimately make OKX the biggest beneficiary of the "second spring" of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
As the Bitcoin ecosystem further develops and matures, we can foresee that more trading platforms and participants will flock to this track. As a pioneer, OKX has firmly established itself in this emerging field and will continue to play an important role in the transformation of the cryptocurrency market.
