OKX Global Digital Asset High-Frequency Trading Competition Kicks Off in Shanghai

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The first stop of the inaugural Global Digital Asset High-Frequency Trading Competition, hosted by OKX in collaboration with TokenInsight and strategically supported by Alibaba Cloud, successfully concluded in Shanghai on February 28. The event marked the beginning of a nationwide tour aimed at fostering innovation, education, and community engagement in the rapidly evolving world of digital asset trading.

Featured speakers included Xia Hao, Head of Market Making at OKX; Jiumei, Senior Business Director for Major Clients at OKX; Zhao Wei, CEO of TokenInsight; Yuan You, Solutions Architect from Alibaba Cloud; and Matt, CEO of BIofin—renowned experts in quantitative trading and blockchain analytics.

Xia Hao (OKX): The Digital Asset Market Has Entered Quantitative Era 3.0

In his keynote titled "The Evolution of Quantitative Trading," Xia Hao delivered an insightful overview of how digital asset markets have matured over the past decade. He emphasized that the industry has now entered what he calls Quantitative 3.0—a new phase defined by three key characteristics:

  1. Diversification of Tradable Assets – From Bitcoin to DeFi tokens, derivatives, and NFTs, the range of available instruments has expanded dramatically.
  2. Rise of Professional Traders – Institutional participation and algorithmic traders are growing at an unprecedented rate.
  3. Increased Competition and Inclusivity – While competition intensifies, the ecosystem is more open than ever, enabling global access.

Xia revealed that OKX has seen exponential growth in API usage over recent years, reflecting rising demand for high-performance trading infrastructure. The exchange supports nearly all major trading categories and offers ultra-low latency execution, with server response times as fast as 2 milliseconds (average 3ms)—among the best in the industry.

👉 Discover how low-latency trading can boost your strategy performance today.

He also announced an upcoming milestone: the full rollout of Unified Trading Accounts in March, allowing users to manage spot, futures, and margin positions under a single balance system—simplifying risk management and capital efficiency.

“While new trends emerge constantly, the core remains trading,” Xia said. “OKX is committed to building superior multi-product trading experiences through continuous technical innovation across front-end, back-end, and infrastructure layers.”

Zhao Wei (TokenInsight): Long-Term Bullish on Bitcoin and DeFi

Despite recent market volatility—including a sharp $11,000 drop in Bitcoin within four days—Zhao Wei expressed strong confidence in the long-term trajectory of digital assets.

“Publicly listed companies investing in Bitcoin have seen their stock prices rise alongside BTC—some up nearly 70% month-over-month,” Zhao noted. “This growing institutional adoption signals increasing legitimacy.”

He recommends investors consider strategic allocations across three core areas:

Zhao highlighted that centralized exchanges continue to report robust spot and derivatives volumes, while simultaneously enhancing their native token ecosystems through staking, buybacks, and service integration.

Moreover, he shared insights into emerging DeFi projects he’s currently analyzing—spanning decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending protocols, derivatives platforms, insurance mechanisms, and options markets.

“A strong project must be built on solid foundational technology,” Zhao cautioned. “It should solve real-world problems like trustless borrowing and lending—not just chase hype.”

Yuan You (Alibaba Cloud): Computing Power Is the Engine of Data-Driven Trading

In his presentation titled "Project Hummingbird: Powering Quantitative Strategies in the Cloud," Yuan You explored the critical role of computing power in modern finance.

“In the digital economy, data is the new oil—and computing power is the engine that turns it into value.”

With data generation accelerating exponentially, quantitative traders rely on cloud infrastructure to:

Yuan emphasized that doubling computing capacity doesn’t just double output—it can lead to non-linear gains in profitability due to faster insights and reduced slippage.

For high-frequency trading (HFT) firms, this means leveraging scalable cloud environments to process terabytes of tick data per second, train machine learning models, and deploy low-latency execution systems globally.

👉 See how advanced cloud-powered trading tools can give you an edge in volatile markets.

Quantitative Roundtable Highlights

Moderated by Jiumei of OKX, a panel featuring Jeffrey (Founder of Biwali), Mark (Co-CEO of Blofin), and Zhou Ningyi (Founder of Bingkuan Quant) discussed practical challenges and future directions in algorithmic trading.

Q: What were your biggest challenges this past year? Is it really harder to hold than to buy?

Jeffrey (Biwali):
“The period since ‘Black Thursday’ in March 2020 has been transformative—DeFi’s breakout year, institutional inflows accelerating, and traditional finance increasingly embracing crypto. Platforms like OKX are driving commercialization forward.”

He stressed that while buying crypto is easy, holding through volatility tests human psychology.

“Quantitative systems enforce discipline. They eliminate emotional decisions—fear and greed—that plague manual traders. A well-designed strategy increases your odds of long-term survival beyond 50%.”

Q: How do you stay profitable over the long term?

Zhou Ningyi (Bingkuan Quant):
“We focus on three pillars: selection, management, and precision.”

  1. Strategy Selection: Prioritize robustness over short-term returns. Some strategies offer lower yields but scale better with capital.
  2. Operational Efficiency: Rigorous account, team, and time management are non-negotiable.
  3. Attention to Detail: Markets are riskier than they appear. Small oversights compound quickly.

Q: Where are you focusing your R&D efforts?

Mark (Blofin):
“We’re bullish on DeFi’s future. More institutions are entering the space every month. Although it’s still noisy and risky today, we’re actively building positions.”

He anticipates cleaner protocols, improved security audits, and greater interoperability will attract more professional traders in 2025 and beyond.

FAQ Section

Q: What is Quantitative 3.0 in crypto trading?

A: It refers to the current stage of algorithmic trading characterized by diverse assets, professional-grade tools, institutional adoption, and global accessibility—all supported by advanced infrastructure like low-latency APIs and cloud computing.

Q: Why is low-latency trading important?

A: Faster execution reduces slippage and improves fill rates—critical for high-frequency strategies where milliseconds determine profitability.

Q: What are Unified Trading Accounts?

A: A single-account system that allows seamless fund allocation across spot, margin, and derivatives trading without constant transfers—improving efficiency and reducing friction.

Q: Are exchange utility tokens still valuable?

A: Yes—especially those backed by strong exchange volume, transparent tokenomics (like buybacks), and expanding use cases such as fee discounts, governance, or staking rewards.

Q: How does cloud computing benefit quant traders?

A: It enables scalable data processing, faster backtesting, real-time analytics, and resilient deployment of trading bots—essential for handling today’s data-intensive environments.

👉 Start building your next-gen trading strategy with powerful tools designed for performance.

Core Keywords

The Shanghai event not only showcased cutting-edge developments in digital asset trading but also highlighted OKX’s ongoing commitment to empowering both retail and institutional traders with reliable technology, deep market insights, and forward-thinking product design. As the national tour continues, expect deeper dives into algorithmic innovation, risk management frameworks, and the future of decentralized finance.