We are back again to follow up on OKEx’s recent announcement regarding its partnership with Paxful. It seems like a milestone development for both the companies who are market leaders in their respective spaces. It would be great if you can answer a few questions regarding the partnership to quell our curiosity.
Q: What was the reasoning behind this partnership between two giants — OKEx and Paxful?
One of my first goals, when I became CEO of OKEx, was #FinanceAll. We want to push the adoption of cryptocurrencies further to people who are unbanked or underserviced by the traditional financial industry. One of the ways we can do this is through strategic partnerships, the other is continually strengthening our product offering and innovating.
Paxful’s values and goals are very aligned with ours and they have become the leading peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace, as we are a leading cryptocurrency exchange. They have a very strong presence in many regions that OKEx would like to also operate or increase awareness. They also have a very robust payment network infrastructure which allows people to pay with more than 300 different local payment methods. This is particularly important in developing countries where people may not be able to access (or not want to use) a bank account to buy bitcoin.
Paxful will serve as a great fiat-on-ramps gateway for OKEx and users will get exposure to the same sophisticated technology, security, and trading features as OKEx users, as well as high-interest accounts for their crypto and other features like C2C lending. We hope that through this move we will reach more and more people and onboard the next wave easily into cryptocurrency, allowing them to better their lives and economic livelihood.
Q: How is this partnership going to help users on both platforms?
They can now buy bitcoin locally with whichever payment method best suits them, in some cases, the payment method can even be what the seller deems acceptable. This is so important in developing areas that lack financial infrastructure. In countries with high inflation like India and Argentina, this will easily allow them to buy bitcoin to shield their savings from inflation. They will also have access for the first time to OKEx’s wide range of products and services, which is the most diverse in the industry. So it’s a win-win for users on both platforms.
Q: How does this partnership with Paxful contribute towards OKEx’s goals?
The partnership immediately gives 100 million users access to over 300 payment methods to buy bitcoin and also enter the wider cryptocurrency ecosystem where they can learn about other cryptocurrencies, trade, stake, save, and participate in the crypto economy as well as their local economies. Given the situation currently, it’s particularly pertinent for people to educate themselves financially and to know that they have options. This partnership is another step forward for us to onboarding more people to crypto and achieving #FinanceAll. We will continue to forge strategic partnerships like this and the partnership with Ethereum to become one of the first validators on the Ethereum 2.0 Topaz testnet. All of these moves help contribute to our goals.
Q: Were there any challenges while arriving at this arrangement?
There were technical hiccups along with the integration on both sides, thanks to the professional teams and speedy turnaround, we have made it solved before launched.
Q: Do OKEx and Paxful have any plans to jointly create something new?
We will plan further in the future, especially to get a better trading and withdrawal experience for both sides of users.
Q: Now that you have forged an alliance with Paxful, which platform do you think OKEx should integrate with next?
We have many plans in the pipeline and will continue to grow through partnerships, but also through our own determination to be the best, to continue to innovate, and entice more traders into the space with our wide variety of trading products and options. We can’t currently comment on future partnerships but you can be sure that we will continue to grow, collaborate, and join forces with platforms and companies that reflect our goals.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
Another huge area that still needs more work when it comes to mass adoption is education. This is why OKEx is also putting many resources into our OKEx Academy to teach people about crypto assets, buying, and storing them, trading, etc. We are also offering a Beacon Program this month that is a masterclass and mentorship series dedicated to participants in the European region, which has been hard-hit by the pandemic, with many people left unemployed. Through this, we hope to pique the interest of people, educate them, and maybe even kickstart their new careers in crypto. We’re very bullish about the future of crypto and believe that by continually pressing forward and collaborating, we can onboard more and more people to the space.
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