Continue to build on the capabilities that have already landed, build trust in different markets, and make products and services affordable for everyday use.
As TOKEN2049 approaches, the eyes of the global financial and crypto industries are once again converging on Singapore. On October 6, the OKX NOW Global Product and Ecosystem Summit was held here. Guests from crypto, payments, banking, and global trading institutions gathered once again, bringing their products, practices, and perspectives into the same conversation about financial transformation.
At the opening of the summit, OKX CEO & Founder Star Xu shared OKX's next step: starting from crypto trading, building for the next generation of users, and creating a global fintech platform covering funds, payments, trading, and asset management.
In his explanation, when technologies such as the internet, crypto, and AI converge, financial services also have the opportunity to keep up with the digital lives people have long been accustomed to: always connected, easy to use, and better able to understand each person's needs.
But beyond technology, there is still much work to be done together. Star emphasized that building global financial services also requires trust, regulation, governance, and local responsibility. The integration of crypto and traditional finance brings together both sides' technological capabilities, liquidity, institutional experience, and service networks, providing the foundation for broader financial applications.
This is precisely why the summit is named "NOW."
For years, markets going global, assets moving onchain, funds flowing around the clock, and AI participating in financial services have often appeared in industry discussions in the future tense. What NOW focuses on is the moment when these ideas are translated into products and enter real use: what users can already do today, which capabilities are being connected, and which partnerships keep them running sustainably.
At the summit, OKX showcased a series of products already in market, as well as new capabilities continuing to expand on that foundation. TradFi perpetual contracts, Pre-IPO perpetual contracts, and unified tokenized stock trading bring crypto and traditional financial assets into a unified trading experience, expanding round-the-clock trading options. On Web3, OKX Wallet, the DEX trading terminal, and DeFi products connect onchain asset discovery, trading, and management; ExchangeOS will open shared trading infrastructure and liquidity to developers through XIP, supporting the construction of onchain markets, with the related spot and perpetual markets soon to enter public beta. On AI, products such as Agent Trade Kit, OnchainOS, and OKX AI connect market analysis, trade execution, and agent services, and the upcoming AI Bot supports the creation of personalized trading strategies through natural language. OKX Money extends the use of digital assets to everyday transfers, spending, and savings.
Moving from products to ecosystem, the summit discussions also deepened accordingly: the future of finance is happening now, and what needs to be done well?
Bringing money into life and completing the last mile of payments
In discussions about the future of money, a simple question was repeatedly raised: what kind of financial experience do ordinary people actually need?
OKX Global Managing Partner & CMO Haider Rafique mentioned that people are already used to using internet services around the clock and naturally expect financial services to be available at any time. But for users outside the industry, wallet addresses, seed phrases, gas fees, and different blockchain networks remain a complex language. Users' more direct need is to conveniently use their own money, send money to friends, or complete a purchase.
OKX Money, a standalone app, is built around these needs. Built on X Layer, it uses self-custodial smart accounts to connect transfers, spending, savings, and asset management scenarios, and is currently available in more than 30 countries. Serving broader everyday needs beyond trading has also become an important direction in discussions between OKX and payment partners.
Raj Dhamodharan, Executive Vice President of Blockchain and Digital Assets at Mastercard, added to this picture from the perspective of payment networks: when consumers tap a card to ride the subway or shop online, they do not need to understand the banking networks, foreign exchange conversion, and fund clearing behind it. In the future, even if the payment channels used in the background change, a simple experience and reliable trust will remain important.
How a cross-border payment is actually completed therefore became a concrete example in the discussion. For a remittance from Dubai to the Philippines, onchain transfer speed is only one part of it. If the recipient needs "pesos," local round-the-clock liquidity, competitive exchange rates, and compliance support at both the sending and receiving ends are also required. Only by connecting these links does the money truly reach the user's life.
Haider introduced that the current focus of OKX's cooperation with Mastercard is on card products. Raj said that as OKX expands from a trading account to a general-purpose money account, both sides are also studying opportunities in payments, collections, and agent commerce, including how agents can pay for services and receive income.
Ideas about programmable money and global payments are finding their footing in these specific links. For users, the more complete the collaboration behind the scenes, the simpler it becomes to use their money.
When the market never closes, liquidity must keep up
Once funds can flow around the clock, how assets can trade around the clock was the focus of another panel discussion.
Extended trading hours bring a series of practical issues. For market makers and trading institutions, an around-the-clock market means cross-regional risk handovers, weekend margin management, and upgrades and maintenance while trading systems continue to run.
Tom from QRT pointed out that after traditional markets close, trading teams still have to face newly emerging macroeconomic or geopolitical information. Lacking familiar real-time price references, institutions need to rethink risk models and quoting methods. At the same time, being able to efficiently move funds across wallets, sub-accounts, and different trading venues can also create an operational advantage, ultimately reflected in capital efficiency and quote quality.
These issues are especially prominent in products related to traditional assets such as stocks. When the underlying market is closed, new information does not stop appearing, and users' trading demand does not disappear in sync either. Round-the-clock trading venues therefore begin to take on more of the function of price discovery.
Jeremy from Ludisia believes this change has already happened: some stock-related products remain active on digital asset trading venues while traditional markets are closed. As traders increase, information can enter prices more promptly, and the market has the opportunity to form richer liquidity.
To meet such demand, exchanges need to continuously improve their foundational capabilities. In addition to order book depth and stable trading latency, corporate actions such as stock splits, reverse splits, and dividends also require more standardized and programmatic handling. For institutions holding larger positions, these details directly affect risk management and the trading experience.
Jeremy affirmed the performance of OKX's technical infrastructure during the discussion. OKX also responded that it will continue to invest in engineering and infrastructure to support the growth of related markets and make the handling of corporate actions an important direction for product optimization.
The TradFi trading capabilities, onchain trading tools, and open infrastructure previously showcased by OKX received a more complete explanation here: products provide the entry point to the market, while professional participants and continuously built trading mechanisms enable the market to operate over the long term.
"Always On" therefore takes on a more concrete meaning. It is both the experience of users participating in the market across time zones and the work that trading platforms and liquidity partners complete together every day.
Banks and exchanges move closer through shared user needs
Collaboration between "banks" and "exchanges" has further extended into money services.
Evy Theunis, Managing Director & Head of Digital Assets at DBS Bank, mentioned that early asset tokenization often started from the supply side: putting a building or a bond onchain one by one, but not necessarily achieving scale. Today, large trading platforms like OKX have user bases and distribution channels that can aggregate diverse asset demand, creating conditions for more asset classes to enter the tokenized market.
In the view of Amy Tan, Head of Technology and Innovation Economy for Asia Pacific at JPMorgan, trust, liquidity, and settlement efficiency remain key to expanding adoption. Banks are advancing the application of blockchain technology, but they also need to understand the real needs of different clients: some enterprises already need round-the-clock money services, while others are still in the process of gradually adapting.
Luke Boland, Global Head of Fintech Client Coverage at Standard Chartered, focused his attention on the settlement foundation. How tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and other digital currencies interoperate will affect the process of more real-world assets entering onchain markets. Banks' accumulated strengths in cash management, liquidity, and trust can be connected with the technology and service capabilities of digital asset platforms.This kind of collaboration has already gone beyond the scope of early-stage services. Luke mentioned that by working with exchanges like OKX, banks can gain a deeper understanding of digital asset needs across different markets and explore directions such as custody, collateral, and institutional services. The users, institutions, liquidity providers, and stablecoin issuers connected through exchanges also bring broader opportunities for ecosystem collaboration.
David Fragale, Senior Managing Director and Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets at Western Alliance Bank, moved from technical capabilities to the value of collaboration. He believes that digital asset platforms have accumulated expertise in key management, trading systems, and 24/7 operations, and that through collaboration, banks can respond more quickly to the growing digital asset needs of corporate clients.
When the discussion returned to individual users, some expectations became especially simple: when they want to participate in the market on weekends, can they get usable funds in time; when holding different types of assets, can they view and use them in a familiar interface; and in the future, can AI agents help handle payments and banking services.
Around digital asset collateralized financing, the guests also discussed the possibility of starting with assets such as Bitcoin, including arrangements such as custody, collateral haircuts, and loan-to-value ratios. These still need to be advanced step by step, but they show that banks and exchanges are extending collaboration into more specific customer needs.
The convergence Star talked about at the opening found clear correspondence in these exchanges: banks, payment networks, and digital asset platforms each bring long-accumulated strengths and look for problems they can solve together. The next stage of financial services will also gradually take shape through this kind of collaboration.
Let today's progress become an everyday experience
From product demonstrations to ecosystem conversations, OKX NOW presented the close relationship between product implementation and industry collaboration.
Trading connects a broader range of assets, Web3 lowers the threshold for on-chain use, AI further links analysis and execution, and Money brings digital assets into everyday fund usage. The participation of payment partners, liquidity institutions, and banks gives these products the potential to connect more scenarios and continuously serve users.
The "NOW" conveyed by this conference also includes long-term work: continuing to build on capabilities that have already been implemented, accumulating trust in different markets, and making products and services stand up to everyday use.
In the end, the changes people feel may be very small. A transfer that arrives smoothly on the weekend, a payment that can be completed without understanding technical jargon, and the convenience of participating in the market at a time that suits them.
The discussions at the conference will eventually come to an end, but the advancement of products and collaboration will continue. For OKX, the future of finance moving from "beginning to happen" to "happening now" means starting from the products and experiences that can already be delivered today, and working with more partners to bring these conveniences into more people's lives.