OKX Wallet Dialogues with Yue Xiaoyu: Web3 Product Philosophy from the Perspective of a Seasoned Practitioner (Part 2)
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OKX Wallet Dialogues with Yue Xiaoyu: Web3 Product Philosophy from the Perspective of a Seasoned Practitioner (Part 2)
Jointly analyze the product philosophy and user value insights of this comeback.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insights
After more than a month of technical refinement and security upgrades, OKX DEX officially returned on May 5, 2025, delivering a more efficient and reliable trading experience for users. As an all-in-one DEX aggregator, OKX DEX leverages its proprietary X Routing algorithm to find optimal liquidity across over 130 blockchains and 500+ decentralized exchanges, helping users complete trades with lower fees and reduced slippage.
For this product relaunch, we invited Yue Xiaoyu (@yuexiaoyu111), a deep user of OKX DEX and former product manager at a well-known internet company now working as a Web3 product manager, to engage in an in-depth dialogue with Shawn, head of OKX DEX. Together, they analyzed the product philosophy and user value insights behind this return, explored how to build truly user-centric Web3 products, and extracted actionable inspiration to further enhance user experience.
Now, let’s dive into this insightful conversation and hear their perspectives. This is the second part.
OKX Wallet x Yue Xiaoyu: The Philosophy of Web3 Products from a Seasoned Practitioner (Part 1)
DEX's Future Evolution and User Expectations
9. Based on your product experience at major Web2 companies, which mature processes or methods are most worth retaining or innovating in Web3 iterations?
Yue Xiaoyu: I'll address this from both macro and micro levels.
Starting with the macro level—philosophy for Web3 products: I previously worked at a renowned internet company, where one unified principle deeply influenced me: "Make it easy for everyone to do business," centered around customer needs. In the Web3 industry—or specifically for leaders like OKX—the equivalent should be: "Make it easy for everyone to earn money" and "Enable ordinary people to use blockchain."
"Make it easy for everyone to earn money" means expanding the industry pie so every participant can benefit, enabling high-quality opportunities to emerge and allowing everyone to profit. "Enable ordinary people to use blockchain" means going beyond financial mechanics by further popularizing blockchain technology, integrating it with the real world, and making life easier for individuals.
Ordinary users care most about how to profit from crypto trading and how using blockchain can make their lives more convenient. If average users cannot earn money in Web3 or feel no tangible benefits from blockchain, why would they stay? How can we attract new users? Therefore, the Web3 industry—and leading players like OKX—must return to its original mission and focus on core user needs: "Make it easy for everyone to earn money" and "Enable ordinary people to use blockchain."
On the micro level—practical iteration of Web3 products: Building upon the above philosophy, actual product development should align with it. Overall, product methodologies remain consistent—serving users and business goals—by designing products based on users (identifying target users), scenarios (real-world application contexts), and needs (what specific needs are met under given scenarios). However, differences arise due to the unique characteristics of this industry, mainly reflected in three aspects: blockchain properties, token economic models, and global product thinking.
(1) Blockchain Characteristics: Traditional internet products follow a frontend-backend model with data stored on local servers; decentralized applications store data on-chain, requiring frontends to interact directly with smart contracts. This difference in data flow creates challenges—such as determining what data should go on-chain, when to write it, and whether it syncs promptly—all impacting product design and user experience. Additionally, smart contracts deployed on-chain are immutable, meaning business logic updates require long-term planning, roadmap design, and careful project pacing. Thus, Web3 product managers must understand blockchain fundamentals and underlying principles. Only with clear knowledge of blockchain traits can they design products that better meet user needs—and more importantly, hide complex concepts from end users, lowering barriers and enabling seamless transition from Web2 to Web3.
(2) Token Economic Model: Tokens serve as economic incentives in blockchain and are central to decentralization. While traditional internet products rarely involve tokenomics—except perhaps basic loyalty point systems involving simple supply-demand dynamics—Web3 projects rely heavily on well-designed token economies for success. A strong token model not only attracts early adopters but also ensures sustainable long-term growth. Hence, Web3 product managers need economics literacy to design tokenomics and corresponding product features that work synergistically.
(3) Global Product Thinking: Blockchain enables a shared global "database." Bitcoin allows borderless currency usage, and dApps can serve users worldwide directly. Any internet-connected individual, regardless of location, can access decentralized services without KYC or restrictions. This presents both advantages and challenges. Serving users within a single country is already complex in traditional tech; doing so across nations, ethnicities, lifestyles, and cultures makes satisfying diverse needs even harder. Yet some elements remain universal—one being empathy, a key concept in product management. By practicing empathy, product managers can resonate with different user groups and create products that truly meet their needs. Therefore, Web3 product managers must embrace global thinking to build universally usable products for diverse audiences.
10. What are OKX DEX’s key upcoming plans? What is the short-term priority?
Shawn: Our short-term goals haven’t changed significantly—we’ve continuously refined our strategy, always aiming to serve "P Xiaojiang"-type on-chain users well. Recently, our main priorities include:
1. Enhance trading decision analytics. Beyond core infrastructure improvements, we’re adding more tools to help users analyze and make trading decisions. Speed will continue to be pushed to the extreme.
2. Address industry pain points. We’ve identified several issues—for example,貔貅盘 (Píxiū-style scams) appearing on leaderboards—that we aim to better filter out to protect users. MEV remains another persistent challenge. Before our service pause, Edge Chain experienced a significant MEV incident. We're now collaborating with the Edge Chain team to strengthen defenses—an important focus area for security.
3. Balance self-custody with trading speed. Is there a trade-off between self-custody and speed? Does holding your own private keys mean slower transactions compared to other platforms? This isn't an unsolvable dilemma. We've found a solution and will prioritize this direction. I believe it will be an industry innovation, and results will soon become visible.
4. Continued investment in Memecoins. Although current memecoin enthusiasm has cooled and some users have stepped back temporarily, memecoins are cyclical. We don’t know if another surge is coming, but our commitment to this space won’t diminish. We’re enhancing trend tracking and notification capabilities—like wallet address monitoring—and investing heavily to improve these functions.
5. Early detection of market trends. Rather than just notifying users after a trend forms, we’re researching ways to detect and alert them beforehand. Memecoin hype always starts with topics before any market movement follows. If we only track tokens, we’ll always lag behind. So we’re exploring topic-based tracking to get ahead of the curve.
In summary, these are the areas we’ll focus on next. These capabilities are likely what users care about most. As for exact product implementations, we haven’t finalized everything yet. The entire industry is experimenting with various solutions, and no standard pattern exists—but that’s precisely what makes progress exciting: everyone is exploring uncharted territory, trying different approaches to see who serves users best.
11. How do you view DEX evolution? How should OKX DEX build differentiated competitive advantages in the landscape?
Yue Xiaoyu: Evaluating trading platforms generally involves five dimensions: entry barrier, speed, trading strategies, metrics, and security. Competition occurs across these five fronts, and OKX DEX can establish differentiation here.
(1) Entry Barrier: Friendliness toward new traders. Top meme coin trading platforms today suffer from excessive specialization, primarily catering to advanced traders. This creates high entry barriers, alienating beginners. Ironically, this is where OKX shines—its consistent focus on intuitive interaction delivers smooth overall experiences. To further differentiate, technologies like chain abstraction and account abstraction could completely rework current on-chain interactions, eliminating complex concepts such as network switching, Gas, and cross-chain operations. Aligning UX directly with Web3 standards would enable truly frictionless entry—real "zero barrier," genuine "user-friendliness." However, such changes are strategic and require the right timing.
(2) Trading Speed: The key competitive edge for trading tools. Speed is the most tangible aspect for users. OKX DEX is already fast, but competitors claim 1-second or even 0.4-second on-chain execution. There remains room for optimization—especially for meme coin trading, where speed is paramount and minor delays may cost opportunities. Ultimately, speed competition reflects infrastructure strength, including node optimization. This plays into OKX’s potential advantage, given its solid technical foundation.
(3) Trading Strategies: Market orders, limit orders, derivatives trading—meeting varied user needs. OKX DEX currently supports market and limit orders for spot trading, but lacks derivative trading and advanced custom strategy options. The crypto industry revolves around three core needs: asset issuance, trading, and management. OKX DEX continues to deepen its role in asset trading, and its future lies in launching more sophisticated trading tools to meet evolving demands of on-chain traders.
(4) Trading Metrics: Address labeling to assist trading decisions. Trading tools shouldn’t merely be operational—they should empower decision-making. One major distinction between Web3 and Web2 products is the transparency of on-chain data. Web3 trading platforms can leverage this by analyzing on-chain activity to deliver richer trading indicators—a test of the team’s analytical capabilities.
(5) Security: The底线 of any trading platform. Security is the lifeline of trading products. A breach leads directly to asset loss and destroys user trust. Security spans three main areas: wallet intrinsic safety, on-chain interaction safety, and additional protective measures. First, intrinsic wallet security refers to code vulnerabilities. Platforms typically engage third-party auditors to review code, fix bugs, and validate security. Second, wallets aren’t just storage—they interact with various on-chain apps, introducing risks during interaction. Robust risk controls are needed: scam token warnings, contract permission management, risky address detection, and contract risk monitoring. Third, beyond internal safeguards, external measures like insurance funds and security education content can boost user confidence. In sum, across these five dimensions, OKX holds strong potential to build meaningful differentiation.
12. Any other topics or thoughts you'd like to share?
Yue Xiaoyu: On-chain is a dark forest—everyone is both hunter and prey. Strong security awareness is essential to protect your assets. Yet even seasoned OGs occasionally fall victim to attacks and lose funds. Is there no defense? Based on my personal security practices, I’d like to share an effective asset management strategy: the Cold-Warm-Hot Three-Layer Wallet System. Proper asset isolation is crucial. This approach divides your wallets into three categories:
(1) Hot Wallet: Used frequently for interactions. Store minimal assets—just enough for Gas fees. You can further segment this by use case: airdrop farming wallet, memecoin trading wallet, etc. Using dedicated hot wallets for experimental projects limits exposure—even if compromised, losses remain contained.
(2) Warm Wallet: Acts as an isolated hot wallet for less frequently accessed assets. Ideal for liquid staking holdings, since keeping such assets in a regularly used hot wallet poses unnecessary risk. A warm wallet offers quick access while reducing interaction frequency and associated risks.
(3) Cold Wallet: Best for large holdings, stored in hardware wallets offline. Avoid interaction entirely—eliminating risks of private key theft or malicious contract approvals.
Finally, I hope we all thrive in this industry, journey far, and ultimately achieve great outcomes!
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It represents the author's views and does not reflect OKX's position. It is not intended as (i) investment advice or recommendation; (ii) an offer or solicitation to buy, sell, or hold digital assets; or (iii) financial, accounting, legal, or tax advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information provided. Holding digital assets—including stablecoins and NFTs—involves high risk and may result in significant price volatility. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets suits your financial situation. For personalized guidance, consult your legal/tax/investment professionals. You are solely responsible for understanding and complying with applicable local laws and regulations.
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