OKX’s Star Xu Takes Aim at DEX Security Gaps, Demands CEX-Level Protection Standards

OKX founder Star Xu just threw a grenade into the decentralized exchange debate. His target? The persistent security vulnerabilities plaguing DEX platforms. Xu's call isn't for incremental improvement—it's a demand for centralized exchange-grade security protocols across the entire DeFi landscape.

The Centralized Standard

For years, the narrative pitched CEXs as the cumbersome, regulated old guard against the nimble, permissionless freedom of DEXs. Xu flips that script. He argues the very structures that make DEXs agile—non-custodial wallets, automated market makers, unaudited smart contracts—are their greatest liabilities. Where a top-tier CEX deploys multi-sig cold wallets, institutional-grade custody, and real-time surveillance, many DEXs operate on a hope-and-a-prayer model. User funds aren't stolen from a fortified vault; they're tricked away through a malicious contract or a spoofed front-end.

A Provocation with Purpose

This isn't just industry mudslinging. It's a calculated move that highlights a fundamental tension in crypto's evolution. The community champions decentralization, but users still crave security and recourse. Every high-profile DEX hack—often shrugged off as 'your keys, your responsibility'—chips away at mainstream adoption. Xu's provocation forces a question: can true decentralization ever be truly secure by traditional finance standards, or is that a contradiction in terms? It's the crypto equivalent of wanting all the tax benefits of a startup with the bailout guarantees of a too-big-to-fail bank.

The security gap between centralized and decentralized exchanges isn't a feature—it's the industry's most glaring bug. Until DEXs can match the fortress-like protections of leading CEXs, mass adoption remains a pipe dream wrapped in a speculative bubble. The future of finance might be decentralized, but it won't get there by leaving the door wide open.

OKX’s Star Xu fires a shot at DEX products

In Xu’s post, he outlines wallet compromise risks, including code vulnerabilities, data leakages, and device malware, while highlighting some solutions the team at OKX is working on to address these issues, like the concept of smart accounts.

According to documentation, smart accounts are a feature the team plans to introduce on the OKX wallet and will utilize TEE technology to automate trading custody keys, proving that security and usability don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

For now, Xu says OKX Pay is still a conceptual product. However, over the next year, he says the team will continue to introduce more powerful capabilities to better safeguard asset security for ordinary users.

Xu’s comment comes after hacking incidents reported by Cryptopolitan over the weekend that targeted DeBot, a DEX trading bot, and Flow, an L1 built for consumer apps, resulting in the loss of millions.

How much was lost in the Flow exploit?

According to a recent update from the Flow team, an attacker targeted a vulnerability in its execution LAYER and moved approximately $3.9M in assets off-network before validators caught it and executed a coordinated halt.

The Foundation’s security team confirmed $3.9 million got drained, primarily routed through bridges — Celer, Debridge, Relay, and Stargate.

The attacker’s wallet has been identified and flagged, and active laundering via Thorchain/Chainflip is reportedly being tracked in real-time with freeze requests submitted to Circle, Tether, and major exchanges. Forensic analysis is also ongoing.

The team claims containment is now complete as well, with the network halt validators implemented, severing exit paths while remediation is in progress. No further unauthorized activity is allegedly possible.

According to the post, the confirmed funds exited represent a manageable amount and do not threaten network solvency or user funds. As such, the immediate priority is remediation and a SAFE restart.

As for when a restart can be expected, the team claims there is already a protocol fix in place that is about to enter final validation. The restart is scheduled to happen within hours pending a successful testnet validation. However, it will not happen until the fix has been fully validated.

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