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OKX

Cryptocurrency DerivativesFounded 2017
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026

Founders

Who Founded OKX?

Star Xu · Founded 2017 · HQ today: Victoria, Seychelles (US regional headquarters: San Jose, California)

Who founded OKX?

OKX was founded by Star Xu in 2017 in Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles. It is now led by Star Xu.

Founders
Star Xu
Founded
2017
Headquarters
Victoria, Seychelles (US regional headquarters: San Jose, California)
Number of founders
1
Current CEO
Star Xu (since 2017)
Where was OKX founded?
OKX was founded in Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles in 2017. wikidata.org
When was OKX founded?
OKX was founded in 2017.
Who started OKX?
OKX was founded by Star Xu.
How old is OKX?
OKX is 9 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Star Xu, a former Yahoo China engineer and DocIn CTO, founded Okcoin in Beijing in 2013. OKEx followed in 2017 as an international platform focused on derivatives. China's crackdown on crypto exchanges pushed the company offshore, and in October 2021 OKEx confirmed it would stop serving mainland Chinese users. It rebranded to OKX in January 2022.

Star Xu

Co-founder 2013

Background

Chinese tech entrepreneur.

Role at OKX

Star Xu founded OKX (originally OKCoin) in 2013. Recognizing the massive, explosive potential of Bitcoin trading in China, he built one of the very first highly liquid Chinese exchanges. He successfully navigated the incredibly chaotic early days of crypto, surviving massive hacks and intense scrutiny from the Chinese government (including being temporarily detained by police in 2020) while pushing the exchange into the massive global offshore derivatives market.

Education: University of Science and Technology Beijing.

Star Xu, whose given name is Mingxing Xu, was born in 1985.

OKX: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Roshan Robert

CEO, OKX US

2025 – Present

As a senior executive managing commercial strategy, he orchestrates massive sports sponsorships (like Manchester City and McLaren F1) to aggressively legitimize the OKX brand globally.

Haider Rafique

Global Managing Partner & CMO

2022 – Present

As Chief Marketing Officer, he successfully weaponized massive Web3 marketing partnerships to directly combat Binance's global dominance and capture retail market share.

Star Xu

Founder & CEO

2017 – Present

A physics graduate from University of Science and Technology Beijing, Xu is one of the earliest blockchain pioneers in Asia, building high-throughput financial architectures.

Keep researching OKX

Who Founded OKX? FAQ

Who founded OK Group and what was the initial launch of OKCoin in 2013?

OK Group was founded in 2013 in Beijing by Star Xu. Its first major product was OKCoin, which rapidly grew to become one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in the world, pioneering order-book matching technology during the early days of cryptocurrency.

How did Star Xu identify the need for a dedicated international derivatives exchange in 2017?

In 2017, recognizing that global institutional and professional traders needed sophisticated hedging instruments (futures, options, and perpetual swaps), Star Xu launched OKEx (now OKX), engineered with advanced margin risk engines and multi-currency collateral systems.

What early engineering challenges did the founding team solve in high-throughput crypto trading?

The founding engineering team built a custom memory-matching engine capable of processing microsecond order executions, multi-currency portfolio margin systems, and anti-DDoS architectures to withstand intense market volatility during Bitcoin bull runs.

How did the founders execute the January 2022 rebranding from OKEx to OKX?

In January 2022, the founders retired the 'OKEx' brand name, launching 'OKX' alongside a modern minimalist geometric logo, signaling a decisive corporate pivot to lead the Web3 decentralized ecosystem, NFTs, and non-custodial crypto infrastructure.

What was the founding team's commitment to independent cryptography over corporate PR?

Following major industry bankruptcies in 2022, the founders rejected marketing-driven audits, choosing instead to publish monthly open-source cryptographic zk-STARK Proof of Reserves code on GitHub, allowing anyone to verify reserves using independent math.

How did the founders pioneer the multi-chain Web3 wallet architecture in 2021?

The founders directed hundreds of core engineers to build a universal non-custodial Web3 wallet that natively supports heterogeneous blockchain virtual machines (EVM, Solana SVM, Bitcoin UTXO, Cosmos), eliminating the need for users to install multiple browser extensions.

What was the founders' philosophy on maintaining an asset-backed 1:1 reserve model?

From inception, the founders maintained an absolute rule: customer funds are always held 1:1 and never rehypothecated, invested in commercial paper, or lent to proprietary trading desks, ensuring instant 100% redemption liquidity at all times.

What enduring values have guided OKX since its founding in 2017?

OKX's enduring corporate pillars are: steady commitment to security and transparency, technological innovation in Web3, customer-centric product craft, and building resilient decentralized infrastructure for the future of global finance.

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Content is for informational purposes only. Not financial advice. Data sourced from SEC filings, annual reports, and public records. See our full disclaimer and methodology.