OKX Calls Out Binance: 10% Plunge Caused by Binance's Irresponsible USDe Activity, Calls for Facing the Truth and Taking Responsibility

On January 31, OKX founder Star said in a social media post that the October 10 market crash stemmed from irresponsible marketing by certain companies—no complex underlying cause, and certainly not random. Hundreds of billions of dollars in funds were liquidated on October 10. As OKX’s CEO, we clearly observed the cryptocurrency market’s microstructure undergo a fundamental shift starting that day. Many industry players believe the damage from this event exceeded that of the FTX collapse. Since then, the market has widely debated the incident’s cause and how to prevent repeats. The root of the problem isn’t hard to pinpoint: - Binance launched a temporary user-acquisition campaign, offering up to 12% annualized yield on USDe. It also allowed USDe to be used as collateral with the same treatment as USDT and USDC, with no effective limits. - USDe is essentially a tokenized hedge fund product—fundamentally different from BlackRock’s BUIDL, a low-risk tokenized money market fund. USDe carries hedge fund-level risk instead. - Binance encouraged users to convert USDT and USDC to USDe for attractive returns but failed to sufficiently highlight its underlying risks. From users’ perspective, using USDe seemed no different from traditional stablecoins—yet its actual risk level was far higher. - As risk escalated amid a wave of user activity and inflated yields, even a minor market shock triggered a collapse. When volatility hit, USDe quickly lost its peg. Chain liquidations followed rapidly, and risk management flaws around assets like WETH and BNSOL amplified the crash further. Some token prices briefly neared zero, causing severe harm to global users and businesses (including OKX customers). Recovery will take time. Star emphasized this is about identifying the root cause, not blaming or attacking Binance. Candidly discussing systemic risk can be uncomfortable, but it’s a necessary step if the industry is to mature and take responsibility. What the industry needs are leaders who prioritize market stability, transparency, and responsible innovation—not those who see criticism as hostility and chase total dominance.