A Decade of Ethereum: My Personal Tribute

By Star Xu, Founder & CEO of OKX

Ten years ago, Ethereum launched with a promise to reshape the world—not just crypto, but of how we imagine finance, applications, and trust itself. Today, as Ethereum celebrates its 10-year anniversary, I find myself reflecting on the journey we’ve taken together—not just as OKX, but as an industry built on open ideas, resilient technology, and bold visions of the future.

My First Encounter with Vitalik

I still remember the first time I met Vitalik Buterin, before Ethereum even launched. Back then, he was this incredibly smart, humble, and slightly shy young man, walking around crypto meetups and explaining to anyone who would listen why programmable blockchains were the future. I admit, at the time, I didn’t fully grasp the scale of his vision. I remember him asking if we could list Ethereum on OKX, and I wasn’t quite convinced. It felt like yet another altcoin project—one of many during that era. But Vitalik saw something none of us did. He had already written the blueprint for what would become DeFi, DAOs, NFTs, Layer 2s, and the foundations of onchain identity. It’s one of the few times in my life I’ve been happy to be wrong. Watching Ethereum rise, gain adoption, and transform into the settlement layer for a new internet has been nothing short of inspiring. And I’m proud that OKX has been able to support this ecosystem in meaningful ways over the past decade.

Building Trust the Ethereum Way

At OKX, we’ve always believed in aligning our technology with Ethereum’s core values—openness, transparency, and permissionless innovation. Nowhere is that clearer than in our Proof of Reserves system, which we launched in late 2022.

Rather than rely on opaque audits or quarterly attestations, we took a different path. We used zero-knowledge proofs—the same cryptographic innovation that Ethereum is pioneering through its ZK rollup ecosystem—to build a trustless, real-time verification framework. This allows any user to independently verify that their assets are fully backed, without compromising their privacy or requiring blind trust. We’ve now published 32 consecutive monthly Proof of Reserves, and we intend to continue doing so indefinitely. This isn’t a marketing campaign—it’s a philosophy. In a space that moves fast and sometimes breaks things, we want to be constant: a platform that earns trust, not demands it.

Our Ongoing Support for Ethereum and Its Builders

Over the years, we’ve done everything we can to help Ethereum grow—from listing hundreds of ERC-20 tokens early on, to investing in developer tools, liquidity support, and staking infrastructure. We’ve worked closely with DeFi protocols, NFT creators, and emerging Layer 2 networks to bring more access, speed, and affordability to users around the world.

One of the most important and exciting milestones in that journey has been our launch of X Layer—a new Ethereum Layer 2 chain built using Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK). While still in its early stages compared to more mature L2s, X Layer reflects a foundational pillar in OKX’s long-term vision. It brings together the scalability and modularity of Ethereum L2 architecture with the liquidity, user base, and product ecosystem that OKX has built over the past several years.

What makes X Layer particularly meaningful to us is its potential to become a core part of our ecosystem—not just technically, but economically as well. We are working to make OKB, our ecosystem token, the native gas token of X Layer. This will create deeper alignment between the infrastructure we operate and the community that supports it. By enabling users to pay for gas with OKB, we’re creating a seamless, unified environment where utility, governance, and network growth are directly tied together.

Our support for Ethereum scaling doesn’t stop there. The OKX Wallet today offers native support for over 100 chains, including key Ethereum L2s like Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, Linea, and more. We’ve built intuitive cross-chain tools, smart routing systems, and aggregated liquidity—all with a singular focus: making Ethereum easier and more accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Recently, we also introduced full support for EIP-7702, advancing the user experience for smart contract wallets and enabling new layers of security and composability. It’s one of many Ethereum-native upgrades we’ll continue to champion in the years ahead.

A Moment of Reconnection

Vitalik and I recently got to reconnect when he visited OKX offices and joined me and Haider on stage at TOKEN2049 in Singapore to talk about the future of Ethereum.

It was surreal to sit beside the same person who once asked me to list ETH—and to now be discussing where Ethereum is headed in its next decade. We talked about Proof of Stake, the evolution of Layer 2s, and how centralized platforms like OKX can support decentralized ecosystems without compromising their core principles.

That conversation reminded me of how far we’ve come—but also how much further we still have to go. Ethereum has built the foundation. Now it’s on all of us—builders, users, exchanges, developers—to turn that foundation into something truly global, inclusive, and lasting.

Looking Ahead, Together

Ethereum has already redefined what’s possible in finance, gaming, identity, and software. But I believe the next ten years will be even more transformative. We’re going to see fully autonomous onchain applications, self-sovereign digital identities, agent-driven smart contracts, and trustless financial rails that rival anything the traditional system can offer.

At OKX, we are all-in on helping that future come to life. We will continue investing in Ethereum infrastructure, supporting its scaling roadmap, offering secure staking, and pushing the boundaries of transparency with our ZK-powered PoRs. We will continue to support the builders who are shaping tomorrow—and the users who will live in it.

To Vitalik, the Ethereum Foundation, and everyone who contributed to this incredible journey: congratulations on ten years. And thank you for reminding all of us that ideas can change the world—when you believe in them enough to build.

Here’s to the next decade of Ethereum.

Let’s keep building—together.

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Star Xu

Founder & CEO, OKX