In January 2022, the OKEx crypto exchange changed its name to OKX: the company noted that it had gone beyond the centralized platform symbolized by the letters Ex (Exchange).
We talk about changes in the OKX ecosystem and test one of the main products of the site – the updated Web3 wallet.
Exchange and wallet OKX
After rebranding, the exchange entered into partnerships with McLaren, Manchester City and TradingView, and launched an initiative Proof-of-Reserves and several services based on the OKX Web3 wallet.
The latter has become one of the company’s main products: the new version of OKX combined a centralized exchange and a non-custodial wallet.
“We wanted OKX to better reflect the essence of the crypto industry – the work of complementary services and finding a balance between decentralization, non-custodiality, security and convenience. You can literally switch between two modes – a centralized crypto exchange and a decentralized Web3 service,” comments an OKX representative.
In mode CEX users buy and sell cryptocurrencies, earn passive income on the Earn platform and use other services that are presented on large centralized exchanges. OKX stores all assets in a system of hot and cold wallets. The exchange also created the OKX Risk Shield insurance fund to protect user funds in the event of a hack.
In wallet mode, clients interact with Web3 services through OKX Wallet. They have full control of their assets and can exchange them through OKX DEXtrade on the NFT marketplace, and also connect to DeFi protocols.
What is included in the OKX Web3 ecosystem
The OKX team develops several Web3 products:
- OKX Wallet is a non-custodial wallet with dapp-browser and support for more than 60 blockchains;
- OKLink is a blockchain browser with support for more than 30 networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon and Tron;
- OKT Chain (OKTC) – EVM-compatible L1 blockchain based on Cosmos. More than 25 DeFi protocols have been launched based on the protocol with TVL about $28 million;
- OKB Chain (OKBC) – L2 solution based on zkEVM for launching dapps;
- OKX DEX is a decentralized exchange and cross-chain aggregator;
- NFT marketplace – 31 marketplaces for trading non-fungible tokens on 17 networks, including Ethereum, Solana, OKTC, Polygon and zkSync Era;
- The Ordinal Market is a marketplace for trading NFTs and BRC20 tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain;
- OKX Build is a Web3 infrastructure platform for decentralized application developers.
In addition, the platform invests in various Web3 projects through the venture capital division OKX Ventures.
How to create an OKX wallet
At the heart of the OKX Web3 ecosystem is a non-custodial wallet in the form of a mobile application for Android and iOS, as well as a browser extension.
Users have access to:
- Exchange ― cross-chain swaps of more than 210,000 tokens in 20 blockchains and L2 solutions, including Tron, Polygon and zkSync Era;
- Marketplace ― P2P markets for trading cryptocurrencies, tokens and NFTs on the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains;
- DeFi ― integrated DeFi protocols like Uniswap, Compound and MakerDAO;
- Discover ― dapp browser from OKX with ratings of DeFi and GameFi projects, links to airdrops and analytical tools;
- Cryptopedia – platform learn-to-learnwhich awards prizes for exploring new crypto projects.
We tested the OKX wallet on an Android smartphone. To do this, set the central slider to mode “Wallet”.
On the start screen, select the option “Create wallet”. OKX offered three options:
- keyless — the wallet divides the private key into several parts, which are stored by different parties;
- with a mnemonic phrase ― the application generates a random sequence of 12 or more words necessary to restore access to funds in the event of loss or theft of a wallet;
- hardware ― the private key is stored on a separate Ledger or Keystone device.
The latter options are familiar to users of non-custodial wallets like MetaMask, so we chose “keyless” generation.
“The keyless wallet improves the user experience using MPC (Multi-party computation) technology – dividing the private key into three shares (shares) between the exchange, the user and the cloud. Two of them are required to sign a transaction,” explains the OKX team.
After generating the wallet, you need to create a backup of the private key in Google Drive – without it you will not be able to receive and send cryptocurrencies.
Receiving crypto assets
After backing up the private key, we transferred 20 USDT to a wallet on the Arbitrum One network: we pressed the button “Get” on the start page and indicated OKX as the source of funds.
Funds must be on the main or trading account of the exchange – assets are not displayed in the Earn services.
At the time of review, the Arbitrum One network, along with Optimism, offered the lowest withdrawal fee – 0.1 USDT.
Integration with OKX made it possible to avoid manually entering and checking the address: the application added it automatically.
We indicated only the amount and confirmed the transfer using email and the Google Authenticator application – the funds arrived in the wallet account within a minute.
Sending funds
Withdrawal of funds is also integrated with the centralized exchange – the account address immediately appears in the options for sending crypto assets. You can move funds to any external wallet or exchange.
We withdrew 10 USDT to OKX via Arbitrum One: clicked the button “Send” on the wallet start page, selected a crypto asset and an address on the exchange, and then indicated the amount – 10 USDT.
When withdrawing stablecoins and other tokens, you will need a currency to pay fees – in our case, Ethereum (ETH) on the Arbitrum One network (ARB-ETH).
The exchange warned about the lack of these funds and offered three options:
- exchange for gas ― sell existing tokens (USDT) for network currency (ARB-ETH). The minimum exchange amount is 5 USDT;
- withdrawal of funds ― purchase ARB-ETH on OKX and send them to the wallet;
- get — transfer ARB-ETH from any external wallet or exchange.
We tested the last option – we transferred ARB-ETH from the exchange. OKX wallet received them within a minute.
After that, you again selected the address, transaction amount and confirmed the withdrawal.
The funds arrived on the OKX exchange account in a few seconds.
conclusions
OKX provides one of the best tandems of a centralized exchange and a non-custodial wallet: clients can buy cryptocurrencies with fiat and withdraw them to external platforms in one mobile application.
The OKX wallet supports DeFi protocols, NFT marketplaces and other decentralized applications. Users don’t need to verify addresses when depositing and withdrawing assets thanks to OKX’s native CEX integration, and Ledger and Keystone owners can connect their devices for cold wallet-level fund security.
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