How will OKB react as OKX expands to Asian markets? Analyzing…

• OKX was the third-largest exchange by trading volume over the last 24 hours.
• The exchange’s clean asset reserves were found to be 100%.

OKX [OKB], one of the largest crypto exchanges by trading volume, announced the formation of its Hong Kong affiliate to launch its digital assets trading services, as more participants get drawn towards the region’s pro-crypto policies.

In addition to this, the exchange stated that it will apply for the virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Hong Kong under new requirements to operate that will go into effect beginning June. Earlier, Justin Sun’ Huobi Global [HT] applied for a license in the region and announced the establishment of a local entity – Huobi Hong Kong.

At the forefront of innovation and regulation, we’re excited to announce the launch of our Hong Kong entity!

As we continue our mission to shape the future of the virtual asset industry, we plan to apply for licenses in Asia’s world city. 🌏

— OKX (@okx) March 28, 2023

Realistic or not, here’s OKB market cap in BTC’s terms

Fundamentals look strong

Per Coingecko, OKX was the third-largest exchange by trading volume over the last 24 hours, with over $1.6 billion worth of transactions. This metric took a 65% jump from the daily volume recorded a month ago.

Source: CoinGecko

Additionally, data from DeFiLlama revealed that the exchange recorded net inflows on a 24-hour, weekly and monthly basis, meaning that more funds were injected into the platform than flown out.

The exchange was one of the few which published its proof-of-reserve data, allowing users to verify its reserves and liabilities. Based on that, OKX’s clean asset reserves were found to be 100%, which was the best among major exchanges.

Clean reserves, as defined by blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, are the total reserve of each exchange, excluding its native token. The firm notes that there could be a potential risk in the exchange’s liquidity if a self-issued token holds a significant percentage of the total reserve amount.

The same issue caused the downfall of the infamous crypto exchange FTX. Its balance sheet was stacked up with its native coin FTT.

Not everything was ‘OK’

The native token of the exchange was down 0.88% at press time, per CoinMarketCap. However, this could be due to the ripples sent across the market due to regulatory action on Binance. When considered on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the coin grew at a whopping 80% growth rate.

Lately, the network activity has slowed down. Apart from the dramatic rise on 23 March, the addresses actively trading OKB have remained tepid.

Read OKB’s Price Prediction 2023-24

Due to these challenges, traders’ sentiment went into negative territory. But as mentioned before, the coin may have been suffering from industry headwinds rather than internal problems.

Source: Santiment

OKX recently removed a large amount of its native OKB tokens from circulation as part of its 19th buy-back-and-burn initiative. This could exert deflationary momentum on the coin.