OKX CCO Lennix Lai on Tokenization, Adoption Gaps, and Blockchain’s $30 Trillion Potential

OKX’s $30 trillion projection, developed with Blockworks Research, sets a high bar. According to the report, blockchain is gaining traction in some sectors. However, in others, it’s still struggling to make a convincing case.

We spoke with OKX Global Chief Commercial Officer Lennix Lai about the signals that matter, the blind spots in the narrative, and how OKX is shaping its next phase of growth.

BeInCrypto: The report estimates blockchain could unlock $30 trillion by 2050. But most projections fade beyond five years. What near-term inflection point gives you the confidence that we’re on track, and what’s the internal metric at OKX you watch most closely to validate this thesis?

Lennix Lai: “I think in some ways, we’ve witnessed the inflection point already. By the end of 2024, our institutional clients managed several hundred billion in assets, with our custody solutions handling peak assets of several billion. This fundamental shift in capital composition, combined with lower funding rates and mature price discovery mechanisms, tells me we’re not just in another cycle.

The next inflection point I’m watching closely is the bridge between decentralized finance and traditional financial systems. Our world-leading collateral mirroring partnership with Standard Chartered, launched in early 2025, shows this happening in real time. It allows institutional clients to use cryptocurrencies and tokenized money market funds as off-exchange collateral for trading, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital and Franklin Templeton. 

When traditional banking infrastructure seamlessly connects with digital assets through trusted frameworks like this, we’ll know the multi-trillion-dollar opportunity is firmly on track.”

BeInCrypto: Tokenization is often described as inevitable, yet the report also shows that most institutions are still in the exploration or infrastructure-building phase. What’s a hard truth about tokenization that even bullish insiders tend to ignore?

Lennix Lai: “Liquidity doesn’t automatically improve just because an asset is on a blockchain; as our report shows, many tokenization efforts remain in early exploration phases despite the bullish rhetoric. While our study finds 10% of global GDP could be tokenized by 2027, some skeptics rightfully point to the 2008 financial crisis, where packaging illiquid assets created systemic risks rather than true liquidity.

I think the real challenge isn’t technical but infrastructural, creating sufficient market depth, trusted verification systems, and regulatory frameworks that address the fundamental ‘nature of the asset’ question. The hard truth is that tokenization without proper market infrastructure simply moves the same illiquidity problems onto a chain. True transformation requires building entirely new market mechanisms, not just digitizing existing ones.”

BeInCrypto: In positioning the OKX Wallet as a “gateway to all dApps,” what specific behavior shift among users are you betting on, and what happens if users don’t want crypto wallets to become super apps?

Lennix Lai: “The OKX Wallet has evolved to become an intuitive gateway to Web3, designed to meet users wherever they are in their crypto journey. This evolution reflects our broader product strategy of building complementary experiences across both decentralized Web3 and centralized finance services.

As our product ecosystem has matured, we’ve recognized that different user segments have distinct needs. We offer two distinct experiences: our main OKX app for community members focused on buying, trading, and payments, and our specialized Wallet app for deeper engagement with DeFi, NFTs, and Web3.

We believe payments will be the gateway to mainstream crypto adoption, so we launched OKX Pay, our crypto payments function, last month. Instead of forcing the usual security-versus-convenience tradeoff, OKX Pay completely reimagines crypto payments.

With nearly 20% of all Bitcoin permanently lost due to key management challenges, we developed a split-key approach, half secured in your passkey wallet and half with OKX. This allows for simple fund recovery without compromising security.

The behavior shift we’re betting on is about giving users freedom to choose experiences that match their needs. We’ve witnessed this preference firsthand with our wallet services now growing by hundreds of thousands of new wallets daily and serving as an aggregator for $1 billion in daily transactions across more than 130 chains.

After watching it evolve from an experiment into a wallet service with ~$44.5 billion in self-custodied assets, this insight led us to separate our wallet into a dedicated app.

Our strategy centers on building infrastructure that adapts to how people actually want to use crypto in their daily lives, not forcing them into our vision of what crypto should be.”

BeInCrypto: The report highlights AI-blockchain convergence as a trillion-dollar opportunity, but it still feels abstract to many. Where is OKX actually placing chips in this space today? What use cases are investable now vs. just intellectually appealing?

Lennix Lai: “From an investment perspective, AI-crypto is actually one of the core investment areas for our investment arm, OKX Ventures. I think the most investable opportunities today aren’t necessarily the ones getting all the headlines.

We see real potential in AI agents that can actually perform useful functions on-chain, computing networks that democratize AI resources, and security solutions that use blockchain’s transparency to make AI safer. 

The immediate use cases we’re focusing on include decentralized computer networks that allow anyone to rent out or access computing power, verifiable AI systems where the provenance of AI outputs can be traced on-chain, and autonomous economic agents that can execute complex financial strategies without human intervention.”

BeInCrypto: OKX has invested heavily in cultural presence from McLaren to Manchester City. What’s one thing the team got wrong about Web3 fan engagement, and how has that changed your approach to brand partnerships in 2025?

Lennix Lai: “The main thing we’ve learned is that meaningful fan engagement requires much more localized, educational approaches. With our Manchester City and McLaren partnerships, I think one key thing we’re doing this year is evolving from more focus on global brand visibility to one that is more customized per region. We’re focusing on activating these partnerships in our key markets. 

With McLaren, we’ve had success engaging the local crypto community at the Melbourne Grand Prix in Australia to seek their opinions on our app and what they’d like to see more or less of. This kind of deeper engagement complements the massive brand reach that F1 brings, several million social media impressions locally, and a TV audience of 1.7 million Australians exposed to OKX’s branding on the McLaren Formula 1 car.

This regional approach reflects our global growth strategy and the need to adapt to local markets, just like how we focus on localized offerings in our products and services. 

Our “Bugzy Malone”-themed Manchester City campaign, featuring superstars like Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Nathan Aké, Joško Gvardiol, and Rico Lewis, alongside former City stars Sergio Agüero, Paul Dickov, and Steph Houghton, resonated deeply with local audiences. As our Managing Director and CMO, Haider Rafique, mentioned in his blog, this approach creates ‘a shared story of Manchester and OKX, two organizations standing for A New Alternative.’ It taps into cultural nostalgia while introducing crypto concepts in an approachable way.

As we expand our presence in the UAE, we’re planning similar customer and fan-focused activations with both McLaren F1 and Manchester City. These partnership campaigns represent our shift toward deeper, more authentic storytelling that resonates locally while connecting to our global brand values.”

BeInCrypto: Many centralized exchanges push Proof of Reserves as a transparency tool. But to skeptics, it’s just optics. What is the real strategic value of PoR for OKX, and where do you see the trust conversation moving next?

Lennix Lai: “For us, Proof of Reserves (PoR) is about establishing mathematically verifiable trust in a trust-challenged industry. To date, over two million people have used our PoR self-verification tool. The technical knowledge barrier has limited access to these technologies, so we integrate this thinking into product development. Platforms must be designed to be easy to use and accessible, which is why we’ve focused on building both secure and user-friendly wallet infrastructure that’s interoperable with traditional financial systems.

The strategic value of PoR is about fundamentally changing the relationship between financial platforms and their users. Traditional finance asks users to trust institutions based on reputation and regulatory compliance. We’re building a system where users don’t need to trust us because they can verify for themselves that their assets are safe. That’s transformative, and it’s where I see the entire industry moving.”

BeInCrypto: As regulatory frameworks start to solidify, especially around stablecoins and custody, how are you recalibrating OKX’s global strategy? As a result, are there regions you’re leaning away from or doubling down on?

Lennix Lai: “We’re recalibrating by securing licenses in key jurisdictions worldwide – most recently becoming fully operational in the UAE as of October 2024, offering AED banking rails as the first global crypto company to do so in the region. 

We’re doubling down on Australia, where we’ve launched spot trading for all users plus derivatives for verified wholesale clients in May 2024, and the US, where we’ve established our regional headquarters in San Jose with Roshan Robert as US CEO. With Linda Lacewell, former NY Department of Financial Services Superintendent, as our new Chief Legal Officer, we’re positioned to navigate complex regulatory frameworks while maintaining our innovation edge. 

We’re focused on embracing sensible frameworks that protect users while enabling innovation. That’s why we’re looking at jurisdictions with clear rules and thoughtful approaches to digital assets.”

To get the full picture of what’s being projected, read the complete OKX x Blockworks Research report. It also includes the latest market insights and the sectors where blockchain is already starting to shift the ground.

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