Crypto likes to see itself as disruptive, just as Apple disrupted mobile phones (and the camera), Tesla disrupted automotive (and also sustainable energy), Twitter/Facebook/WhatsApp disrupted media and communications (and also digital community building). At OKCoin, we embrace this industry because we also believe that bitcoin and subsequent cryptocurrencies represent a paradigm shift in both our financial system and social fabric. While it's unclear what this shift will look like, or if it will ever be static, there will always be a need for a technical and financial infrastructure that allows people to easily and safely buy, sell and keep their bitcoin and digital assets in an open, inclusive and free global market. It is this belief that led to the creation of OKCoin in 2013 and has kept us in it for the long haul.
As someone with a previous life on Wall Street, however, I’m also suspicious of buzzwords like “disruption,” “transformation” and “paradigm shift.” I’ve heard those buzz words more than I care to during my more-than-a-decade experience on the “dark side.” Entrepreneurs use them to get funding for their startups or in preparation for taking a business public. But when it is no more than a buzzword, generally it doesn’t take a long time for the market to catch up.
The cryptocurrency industry faces the same challenge. During the ICO boom of 2017, large amounts of capital flooded in for the first time. I was still living my happy investor life and had already invested in OKCoin, then the largest crypto exchange in China. Naturally, there was an influx of ICO white papers in my inbox.
That made me anxious. As an investor, you balance two types of risk. The first is reputational risk: You don’t want to miss out on a good deal. The
