In the crypto, Bitcoin is not necessarily the scarcest, trust is. Around noon today (5th), Star Xu, founder and CEO of OKX, replied to users on X, personally apologizing and acknowledging that risk control "may have a misjudgment rate", with some accounts being mistakenly frozen. This big shot who usually appears at the top of the crypto, at this moment, responded to user doubts like a customer service, highlighting the difficulty of exchanges balancing compliance and service in an era of rapid regulatory tightening.
Event Overview: Account Locked, CEO Steps Forward
Recently, some OKX users have complained about their accounts being frozen without warning, raising concerns about asset safety. As doubts spread, Star Xu chose to explain personally. He stated in his tweet:
"One of the biggest global compliance challenges is 'false positives' - where the system mistakenly identifies normal users as high-risk users. Even with the most advanced databases and technologies, it's difficult to accurately determine whether an account is compliant. Various service providers often adopt 'aggressive identification' strategies, and regulatory agencies tend to support platforms taking more cautious risk control measures."
Boss Explains Compliance and Risk Control Challenges
Star Xu explained that the platform must block terrorist financing, money laundering, and market manipulation, thus implementing strict KYC, transaction monitoring, and sanctions list matching.
The problem is that no matter how large the database or smart the model, it's inevitable to misjudge users who use VPN, Tor, or have slight connections to sanctioned regions as high-risk.
To reduce misjudgments, OKX has invested in a global compliance and risk control team of over 600 people, but the "proving dad is dad" type of verification process still tests user patience and exposes the common pain point in the crypto industry: it's hard to balance safety and convenience.
CEO Faces Users Directly
Star Xu assured that as long as no illegal activities are involved, funds are safe and data will be strictly permission-controlled. Users only need to provide relevant proof to customer service, and if there are no issues, they can retrieve their funds or overall account control rights. This also shows that OKX may have faced pressure from some users questioning account blocking on social media recently, adopting a PR strategy of having the CEO completely extinguish the fire, intending to suppress FUD in one go.
