Author: WuShuo
This dialogue features Zakk Wang, Head of OKX Wallet and X Layer. Zakk reviewed the evolution of OKX from a wallet tool to a public chain ecosystem and explained the positioning of X Layer within the group. OKX has chosen to develop the wallet and the public chain as core products in parallel. X Layer started as an Ethereum Layer2, primarily considering the connection with the existing ecosystem and user base. The current development philosophy for X Layer is to advance in stages: first, complete the underlying performance and technical stability; then, supplement infrastructure like asset exchange and DeFi; finally, introduce more application scenarios including MEME, AI, and payment. In specific directions, X Layer views payment as an important, already-landed use case, while also focusing on sectors like DeFi, Perp DEX, and prediction markets. However, it prefers third-party teams to deploy related products on the chain, with the platform mainly providing technical, infrastructure, and incentive support. Regarding on-chain data fluctuations and changes in market attention, X Layer's assessment is that it is still in the infrastructure building phase, and short-term metrics are not the current core goal.
Introduction to Zakk's Background
Maodi: Zakk, could you introduce yourself? For example, when did you join the crypto industry, how did you join OKX? What are your current responsibilities? When did you start leading the X Layer business?
Zakk: I have been with OKX for almost seven or eight years. The first version of the OKX Wallet was released in July 2021. The initial version wasn't ideal; the team didn't accurately grasp market demand at the time. After two years of refinement, by 2023, we began focusing on NFT and Airdrop scenarios, launched flexible tools like the multi-account system, promoted inscriptions, co-built protocols and ecosystem with Unisat BRC-20, and later TON and Meme. As our understanding deepened, we gradually shifted from a single wallet APP to multiple endpoints and started thinking about ecosystem construction.
In 2024, the Chain and Wallet teams merged, with the main product being X Layer. Unlike many peers who manage the chain and wallet separately, OKX believes these two should develop side by side, supporting each other. X Layer is a Layer 2 solution, naturally fitting with the Ethereum ecosystem, which is suitable for us in terms of technical architecture, market positioning, and user needs. Although independent development is feasible, we believe that combining it with our existing large wallet and traffic base can make X Layer more successful.
Strategic Positioning of X Layer and OKX Wallet
Maodi: What is the strategic positioning of X Layer and the OKX Wallet?
Zakk: We believe the wallet and the chain should advance together, supporting each other; one cannot be without the other. The main goal of X Layer is to retain users and enhance stickiness, while also supporting our business, especially the construction of the payment system and serving the general public. This is the mission of X Layer, reflected in practical application scenarios, and the OKX Wallet is the vehicle to achieve this mission. We want to provide an experience that exceeds industry standards.
In terms of innovation at the application level, we are not only focused on the protocol layer but also innovating at the application layer. To achieve this, the OKX Wallet is our important vehicle. Unlike many companies, we emphasize breakthroughs not only at the chain layer but also at the application layer. Through dual innovation at the protocol and application layers, our ecosystem will be more robust, bringing a completely different experience to users, especially in areas like payment, decentralized applications (DApp), and decentralized finance (DeFi).
Exchange Main Business and X Layer Development Pace
Maodi: OKX's main business is the exchange. In the Chinese market, OKX is at least a TOP2 exchange, with very large functionalities and development workloads. Will resource allocation affect the development speed of X Layer?
Zakk: OKX has not experienced slow development due to resource or talent shortages. We are a very focused company, clear about users' most urgent needs, especially the pain points in experience and demand scenarios. We prioritize solving these issues and adjust the priority of other work based on demand, always putting users first.
Why choose a steady strategy? We divided X Layer's development into three stages. The first step is high performance and technical preparation. We absolutely do not want to find that technology has become a bottleneck when X Layer matures and the ecosystem becomes large. For example, Base Chain and Solana have undergone years of technical polishing. We also switched to the OP stack. Although this part is complete, our technical performance is now quite good.
The second step is infrastructure construction. We must ensure that basic asset exchange can be completed. Without the support of this infrastructure, assets cannot handle high-frequency, large-scale, and complex scenarios, which is irresponsible to the community. This is also why we introduced infrastructure like Uniswap into the DeFi ecosystem. Currently, we are also paying attention to other healthy DeFi infrastructure. We hope that when building X Layer assets, xBTC, and xETH on this infrastructure, we can win everyone's trust. If the on-chain TVL (Total Value Locked) does not grow healthily, simply shouting about Meme or hot topics is irresponsible to the ecosystem. This is our focus on infrastructure.
The third step, I am not against Meme. Meme is a fun and viable良性 product. When people create and discuss it in daily life, forming a certain kind of asset, it proves the health of the crypto ecosystem. If the ecosystem weren't strong, how could valuable assets be created through daily communication? This is also the charm of crypto assets; they can be accepted by the general public. So, we do not oppose the development and growth of Meme and its ecosystem on X Layer, but we oppose self-deprecation. If you think an asset is worthless but still support it, then I don't understand.
Boundaries of Meme Culture, Community Autonomy, and Platform Value Judgment
Maodi: You mentioned that if a high-quality Meme asset or community can prove itself, you would倾斜 more resources. Doesn't this requirement for "proving oneself" seem a bit like a top-down judgment? And Meme community culture itself is spontaneous. Could there be a conflict between the two?
Additionally, Memes sometimes have a deconstructive and satirical nature, which might be seen as "lowbrow." As the head of a public chain, do you think this value judgment conflicts with the spirit of community self-development?
Zakk: First, we define what "just for fun" means. PEPE is a typical example, FART is also a kind of nihilistic satire. These do not violate basic moral bottom lines. You cannot harm others, nor use foul language, but you can express cynicism or mockery of life, as long as it doesn't touch the most basic respect, everything else is acceptable.
Second, blockchain is a completely transparent ecosystem. Its cohesion and vitality can be observed. We have mature means to排除 false prosperity. Some coins that appear prosperous on the surface might be artificially manipulated热度. OKX can see this clearly, and other platforms can too. Therefore, we can reach a consensus with the community to identify what kind of assets are high-quality, which coins and communities are truly recognized and supported by the masses.
How X Layer Provides Soil for Quality Memes and Projects
Maodi: If a Meme community or asset can demonstrate strong performance through its values and data, why must it choose X Layer over other blockchain platforms?
Zakk: Looking back at the AI Summer back then, there were many excellent AI products and technical frameworks on Base, even some eye-catching AI Tokens, but these assets did not appear where we hoped they would, especially in the Chinese-speaking Meme circle. I think this might be because no platform in the industry was willing to take responsibility, promote the growth of these assets, and build a suitable ecological environment for them. Can the Meme culture of the Chinese-speaking circle only rely on chicken-blood-style stimulation, year after year? This is a very serious and critical question.
X Layer will definitely become an important platform to推动 the industry, community, and users forward. We have a large incentive fund and a clear hackathon plan. Our hackathon is different from other platforms; we have very public Demo Days, inviting big names to personally review the quality of projects and see if they can推动 industry development. Imagine many interesting projects being released on Demo Day and launched through Launchpad and Meme forms; this will create a healthy Meme culture on X Layer. Those Memes that rely solely on stimulation will also rise随之.
Our goal is to build a suitable ecological environment on X Layer. X Layer not only provides soil for the Meme circle or Dapp circle but also hopes to promote multiple areas like AI Meme, project Meme, payment Meme, and community joke Meme. We hope these different types of Memes can complement each other and prosper together. This is OKX's mission, and also X Layer's mission.
Hackathon Mechanism Design to Avoid "Airdrop Farming" Projects
Maodi: You mentioned the incentive plan. Star (OKX Founder & CEO) mentioned a $100 million incentive amount, and you also said you would hold hackathons. Regarding this, are there any specific details? For example, what is the theme of the hackathon? Also, in your speech, you mentioned that some people specialize in "薅羊毛" (airdrop farming), participating in hackathons just to fraudulently obtain reward funds, not to build long-term on X Layer. How do you avoid this situation?
Zakk: We will design a complete set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). We have public Demo Days, where we will invite many industry leaders to participate in the review. I believe everyone can make unique judgments based on the quality of the projects. It's like when we go to game shows and play "Black Myth: Wukong," we can immediately feel its uniqueness; if we play a shoddy game, we immediately find it boring. We will leave the judgment to the users, let them experience it firsthand and provide evaluations. Based on these evaluations, we will decide how to support the projects. The entire process is open and fair.
The hackathon theme has been decided. We will announce it soon, please stay tuned. I'll leave a little suspense.
Management Energy Under Multiple Roles and the Advantage of the Wallet Perspective
Maodi: You are currently responsible for the wallet business, X Layer, and OKX Pay. It seems you are doing a lot. Compared to heads of other chains or independent business leaders, do you have a problem with分散精力 (divided attention)? Also, as a负责人推动链的发展 (leader promoting chain development) from a wallet perspective, will your perspective and motivation be different from someone focused solely on the chain itself, like the head of Base chain?
Zakk: Actually, most Web3 companies adopt similar frameworks. The combined value and benefits far outweigh going it alone. In fact, many famous chains now are adopting similar coordination mechanisms. If a chain only focuses on its own development, its goal is usually just to increase TVL, but this does not represent its success. Why have many once-glorious chains failed to withstand bull-bear cycles? The reason is they only saw the development of the chain itself, lacking the ability to cross cycles.
However, if a chain has a solid user base and high stickiness at the application layer, and has far-reaching布局 in emerging areas like payment, then we would definitely be happy to see the development of these chains. For example, Solana's performance in payments, or Bitcoin's development in wallet social, are things we hope to see. But what is the reason for their success? They have a coordination mechanism that can deeply integrate the chain's ecosystem with areas like payment, social, and wallet. If we don't establish this mechanism, the chain can only become an isolated chain that cannot withstand bull-bear transitions, which would limit the community and its own development.
X Layer's Core Scenarios to Attract Real Users: Payment and Applications
Maodi: Now many chain founders are very confident, saying their chain has good technology, fast transfer speeds, low fees, high TPS. But the problem is, without applications and users, the number of users might even be less than the number of chain types. What is your view on this? What do you think will be the most attractive point of X Layer for users in the future?
Zakk: I can give an example. In Brazil, thousands of people use X Layer for payments every day, using card payments. In fact, such situations are happening all over the world. X Layer has already started integrating with payments, and this model will be widely applied globally, including Europe, Singapore, and more offshore areas in the future. This is part of the payment track, the first key point.
The second key is DeFi. When we deploy more X assets, these assets will naturally generate interest rate differentials, leading to arbitrage opportunities, arbitrage brings Loop, Loop brings TVL. As long as we identify this scenario, it will happen naturally. For example, we plan to create DeFi and DApp for novice users. Take an application like "Sheep A Sheep" (Yang Le Ge Yang), which accumulated a huge user base on WeChat. Our "novice DApp" also has the potential to reach a wide range of users. Once they develop, X Layer will take a different path. If we just talk without action, it definitely won't work. But now we have taken the first step; we already have tens of thousands of users consuming locally. Next, the development of novice DeFi and DApp is just a matter of time.
We welcome emerging formats like prediction markets, RWA, Perp, and are already moving in this direction. Everyone can look forward to seeing our progress at the upcoming Demo Day.
Community Perp DEX Deployment and Distinguishing Compliance Boundaries
Maodi: Previously, Star mentioned that when you were working on X Layer, you considered doing a product like a Perp DEX, but didn't launch it due to compliance issues. Will you launch a similar product on X Layer in the future, or encourage the community or other teams to deploy it on your chain?
Zakk: Community-based products will definitely exist. As for regulatory issues, platforms like Ethereum are infrastructure, but if a project doesn't follow the rules, the platform is not responsible because Ethereum is decentralized, and all information is transparent. X Layer is the same; the platform is completely open to the ecosystem. We will showcase some talented teams at Demo Day who are actively building.
As for whether OKX will launch similar products, we will leave it to professional teams. For trading nature products like Perp, whether they serve OKX's trading team or a third-party Perp team, it's the same for X Layer. Our core is to provide the best service for everyone. As for whether these teams build on our platform, I believe OKX's trading team will make professional judgments.
Value of the $100M Incentive Fund for Third-Party Teams
Maodi: The Perp DEX track is very competitive, especially in 2025. Projects like HyperLiquid, Aster also have high market caps. Is your $100 million incentive fund sufficient?
Zakk: Actually, early incentive funds are like hackathons; there won't be just one. We will use early funds to推动 project progress, help it take the first step, while deepening our understanding of the project. Next, we will review the project's effectiveness together with various communities, projects, and users, and make adjustments based on feedback. Everyone can rest assured, there will definitely be more actions later.
Maodi: Hyperliquid currently has its own chain. For a top team, their product might be very powerful, and they can完全可以自建链 (完全可以自建链 - completely build their own chain). SDK and other technologies are also very mature now. For general teams, X Layer's help seems limited. Your incentive amount is relatively limited, might not attract top teams, while for small teams the incentive fund isn't attractive enough. How do you view this situation?
Zakk: This is a question of whether to make a one-time deal, which is never OKX's style. Our style is to循序渐进、稳健前行 (advance step by step, steadily). So, the $100 million incentive fund is more of a startup fund, symbolizing our attitude. If these projects perform well, we will definitely cooperate further.
Regarding whether project parties will have their own chain projects, we completely respect their choice. Even if they have their own chain, there are multiple ways to cooperate. For example, Perp has many forms; some projects will build their own clearing and settlement chain, they can use us as a clearing and settlement chain or an ecological chain.
For instance, Hyperliquid appears to be its chain, but it actually runs two chain blocks simultaneously: one is the clearing and settlement chain block, the other is an EVM-based ecological chain block. This is one technical form; we can cooperate on these details. I believe that whether it's a top team or an emerging team, once they have mature business thinking,接入 X Layer (accessing X Layer) will find a suitable solution. If emerging teams hope to obtain support, technical advice, or team development through OAS, we also have corresponding SOPs. Therefore, specific issues need specific analysis.
Work Summary of the Past Half Year and Long-Termism Strategy
Maodi: In the past half year, from August until now, you have conducted an upgrade. Many users are concerned about the coin price. I remember your price rose from over 40U to 250U, then fell back to over 100U (the interview took place in January 2026). I also looked at some on-chain data. Just after launch, many users deployed Memes for trading, and on-chain data, including the number of transfers and active addresses, increased. But recently, various data seem to have returned to a level slightly higher than before the upgrade. How do you view the results of the past half year?
Zakk: We have been consistently executing a clear three-step strategy. OKX is very clear about its goals and path, regardless of changes in the external environment. What we need to do is let the community understand our direction. Once consensus is reached, problems will naturally no longer appear.
We cannot expect a chain to have an immediate huge impact during the initial infrastructure construction and technical construction phase; doing so would be irresponsible to the community. We need to ensure that infrastructure and technical construction are solid before we can continue to advance development. As we discussed earlier, if an event like the AI summer can appear in the Chinese Meme circle and Chinese crypto circle, it should be the goal of our entire team, even OKX and industry influencers. As long as we advance steadily, any noise or阶段性困难 (periodic difficulties) will not constitute a problem. We will remain consistent with the community, solve users' problems, and listen to the community's suggestions. I myself am also in groups answering everyone's questions, clearly telling them our路线和计划 (route and plan). When the time comes, everyone will naturally understand that the initial刺激性事件 (stimulating event) was just短暂 (short-lived).
OKX has always adhered to long-termism. Chains like Base and Solana also experienced similar situations at the beginning. I remember Solana before the Meme Season had experienced several outbreaks. For example, when the Squid Game TV series was very popular, there were also projects like squid coin that became popular for a short time but quickly disappeared. Should we ask Solana why they didn't have measures to maintain the data? Actually, it's not that they didn't, but they were still in the construction process and couldn't immediately交代 (account for) it to the community.
But two years later, looking back, we won't blame Solana. We will find that it was just an event at that time. Long-termism is about moving forward with the community, with clear goals, advancing steadily, and everything will become clear. I believe the community will look back a year later and see that everything has a natural explanation.
Maodi: How long do you think X Layer needs to achieve significant results and become a chain that everyone uses in daily life, like Base chain or Solana? Is there a rough time expectation?
Zakk: There are two directions. The first is applications in daily life, which we are already working on. Actually, everyone might not know, but there are already a large number of payment-related transactions on X Layer. Of course, overseas, due to cards and consumption scenarios, this volume is larger. We will continue down this path. The second direction, I believe everyone expects more振奋人心的消息 (heartening news), to see some肉眼可见的改变 (visible changes), rather than a group of people happily using our Demo Day far across the ocean. As I mentioned before, this will be combined with the time of the 2049 conference. The 2049 event is open and transparent, and by then everyone will see the progress very clearly.
Promotion Strategy and Future Interaction Plans
Maodi: This should be your first interview after X Layer completed its upgrade. There was a gap in promotion in between. What is the reason for this? I see heads of other chains might host Twitter AMAs or frequently interact with everyone in the community. Will you personally do similar things in the future?
Zakk: Actually, initially the wallet didn't do much promotion either, because the infrastructure (Infra) was in the construction phase. We must be responsible to the community and users. If the product user experience we launched was not good, I myself wouldn't want to do that kind of promotion. The promotion at that time was more to let everyone know that this thing exists, because the event itself is very important and needs to be known.
But when we enter the infrastructure construction phase, we should focus on making better products. The wallet was like that back then, and X Layer is the same. As for whether we need to communicate more with everyone, I think it is necessary so that everyone can better understand our philosophy. As the负责人 (person in charge), I am more of a负责人 for the users. I hope that when users use our products, they can truly feel its advancement, convenience, and comfort. This is my mission.
2026 Ecosystem Layout: Trading, Web3 Novice-friendliness, Payment
Maodi: Besides the details that might be announced at the Demo Day you mentioned earlier, can you reveal the plans for specific directions in 2026?
Zakk: There are three major directions, as Star mentioned at the meeting. The first direction is trading, including CeFi, DEX, and CeDeFi, combining new assets. This part will be continued to be promoted by professional teams. There will be several events next, and the teams will gradually share more details.
The second direction is Web3. We want to achieve Web3 novice-friendliness (小白化) and推动行业前进 (push the industry forward). We hope that when the trillion-dollar stablecoin market cap and hundreds of millions of users arrive, there will be a company that can open the door to this world, and that is OKX. The boss has always emphasized that we are a company that builds for the long term and advances steadily.
The third direction is payment. Payment will become the carrier for hundreds of millions of users. Apps like Venmo, Revolut, Cash have tens of millions of users, thirty or forty million甚至上亿 (even上百 million) users. Web3 also needs such a product. This is not only a responsibility to the industry but also OKX's mission.
Definition of X Layer: New Money Chain & Web3 Cornerstone
Maodi: If you had to introduce X Layer in one sentence, what would you say?
Zakk: First, X Layer is a New Money Chain. We hope it can bring completely different innovation, creativity, and new assets, becoming a force that leads the industry.
Second, its positioning is a continuously advancing cornerstone. Together with the wallet, they form the two cornerstones of Web3. Without it, all the development plans we mentioned cannot be realized. This is the definition of X Layer.
