Cryptocurrency exchange OKex is developing its own blockchain. The OKChain is now in its final stages of development and the company expects to launch a test version in June. OKChain will be the foundation of OKex own decentralized exchange. This was announced in a blogpost. This makes OKex the second major exchange to move towards its own decentralized blockchain.
OKex has its own token called OKB. By the end of april this token will be transferred to the Ethereum network as an ERC20 token. When the OKChain is fully functional, there will be a migration to OKex own blockchain.
The OKChain will use a system with Super Representatives (SR), which are node holders who are upvoted by the community. These representatives are rewarded for maintaining the network, and in turn the SR can reward their voters. When the OKChain is live, it will also be used for token pre-sales (like Binance's Launchpad) and it's called OK Jumpstart. Ofcourse OKB can also be used for purchases inside dApps.
Earlier this year Binance launched its own decentralized exchange. Binance also has its own blockchain and its own token. OKex is following the example set by Binance. Not only is a decentralized exchange in the ideology of the blockchain space, it's also a way to secure a service against hacking.
Even though the biggest exchanges are still the centralized ones, these are also the exchanges that get hacked. Cryptopia is the most recent example of a centralized exchange that lost lots of money because it got hacked. On a decentralized exchange nobody can steal funds, because it's still tied to personal accounts and personal private keys. The only decentralized exchange that ever got hacked is EtherDelta, and that happened because someone spoofed the website after hacking the DNS server. There are plenty of reasons to only work with decentralized exchanges, and safety is one of those reasons.
