OKX CEO Star Xu Predicts Blockchain Will Power 50% of Global Economy

Blockchain isn't just for crypto anymore—it's about to swallow half the world's economic activity. OKX CEO Star Xu just dropped that bombshell prediction, and traditional finance is scrambling to catch up.

The Infrastructure Shift Nobody Saw Coming

Xu's vision cuts through the noise. He sees blockchain not as a speculative toy but as the backbone for global trade, supply chains, and even government services. This tech bypasses legacy systems, slashing settlement times from days to seconds and turning opaque ledgers into transparent, immutable records.

Why 50% Isn't Just a Number

That figure—half of everything—isn't plucked from thin air. It reflects the sheer volume of transactions, contracts, and data flows currently bogged down by middlemen and paperwork. Blockchain automates trust. It replaces notaries, auditors, and entire compliance departments with code that never sleeps and never lies.

The Cynical Take from Finance

Of course, Wall Street veterans might scoff—they've built fortunes on complexity and information asymmetry. A transparent, efficient system doesn't just threaten their fees; it threatens their entire business model. No wonder some banks are still trying to build 'blockchain' without the decentralization that makes it revolutionary.

The race is on. Nations and corporations are either building on this new rails or getting ready to be left on the old, crumbling tracks. Xu's prediction isn't a maybe; it's a countdown clock for the global economy's most significant upgrade since the internet itself.

Why OKX’s Xu Sees Demand For On-Chain Finance

Xu linked the moment to past cycles in internet, mobile, and cloud, arguing the next step is a “financial internet” where storage, transfer, and settlement are software-driven and auditable.

He said current infrastructure can meet institutional needs, citing account integrations, low-friction user flows without gas fees, and throughput targets measured in millions of transactions per second.

Security goals mirror bank accounts, while on-chain identity, analysis, and audit features are intended to raise transparency. His view is that open and efficient systems tend to win over time, and that the internet generation is pressing finance toward an always-on standard.

He added that regulators in jurisdictions such as the United States and Singapore are building frameworks that move activity from pilots to production.

Bitcoin, Stablecoins, And Tokenization In Practice

Xu called Bitcoin “digital gold” for younger holders and pointed to institutions adding exposure on balance sheets. He portrayed stablecoins as a parallel payment channel that allows near real-time cross-border settlement, including units tied to the U.S. dollar and regional fiat.

He placed tokenization at the center of market structure change, with funds and government bonds entering continuous on-chain venues that offer transparent pricing and compliance controls.

Looking ahead, he outlined a model where users hold self-custody wallets, identity is portable, and issuance and settlement run on a single base layer.

“More open, transparent, and efficient systems will ultimately prevail,” Xu said, adding that the internet generation is already building toward that outcome.