OKX Reenters US Market Backed by New Leadership
The former Barclays executive will be the CEO of OKX US. The exchange will begin by offering its centralized trading platform and OKX Wallet, with plans to support major cryptocurrencies and integrate with local banks. The relaunch follows OKX’s $505 million settlement with US regulators over compliance violations. After the settlement, the exchange fully committed to better regulatory standards and brought on former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as an advisor. Meanwhile, Ethena Labs, the issuer of synthetic stablecoin USDe, recently excited Germany after BaFin’s regulatory clampdown and will no longer pursue MiCA authorization. On a broader scale, a major AWS outage on April 15 disrupted the operations for a number of centralized exchanges. This reignited talks about the crypto industry's reliance on centralized cloud infrastructure and prompted new calls for decentralized alternatives.
OKX Makes US Comeback
Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX officially announced its reentry into the United States market, and unveiled a phased rollout plan that will gradually onboard users throughout 2025. The move is accompanied by the appointment of former Barclays executive Roshan Robert as the CEO of OKX US.
In a blog post dated April 16, Robert shared that the company will begin by offering its centralized crypto exchange and the OKX Wallet to American customers. The broader nationwide launch is set to follow later this year. The new regional headquarters will be based in San Jose, California.
As part of this relaunch, existing Okcoin users will be migrated to the updated OKX platform, which will deliver improved features like deeper liquidity, lower trading fees, and more sophisticated tools for market participants. The company is also promising integrations with local banks and will support major digital assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USDT, and USDC. To maintain transparency, OKX will continue publishing monthly proof-of-reserve reports audited by cybersecurity firm Hacken.
Beyond its exchange services, OKX is also bringing its wallet to US customers. The OKX Wallet supports 130 blockchains and includes a decentralized exchange aggregator that offers access to over 10 million tokens on networks like Ethereum, Solana, and Base.
This renewed push into the US market comes after OKX settled legal issues with federal authorities. Earlier this year, the exchange admitted to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in violation of US Anti-Money Laundering laws. The company agreed to pay $84 million in penalties and forfeit $421 million in profits that were obtained largely from institutional clients. To address the concerns raised during the investigation, OKX pledged to improve its compliance framework and brought on former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as an advisor.
After these resolutions, OKX’s CEO Star Xu said that the firm is fully committed to becoming a leader in compliance standards across global markets.
Ethena Labs Exits Germany
Meanwhile, the developer of the synthetic stablecoin USDe, Ethena Labs, is shutting down its German operations after regulatory pressure from BaFin. This is Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
Less than a month after BaFin identified compliance deficiencies and possible securities law violations related to the USDe stablecoin, Ethena Labs announced on April 15 that it reached an agreement with the regulator to cease all activities of its German subsidiary, Ethena GmbH. The firm also confirmed that it will no longer pursue Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) authorization in the country.
The decision was made after BaFin halted all minting and redeeming activities for USDe in Germany on March 21. Ethena explained that since that date, no such operations were conducted through its German entity. Users who were previously onboarded with Ethena GmbH have now been transitioned to its international arm, Ethena (BVI) Limited, effectively severing any remaining ties with the German subsidiary.
Unlike conventional stablecoins like USDt and USDC, which are backed by fiat reserves, Ethena’s USDe uses a synthetic dollar model that relies on an automated delta-hedging strategy combining spot crypto holdings, on-chain custody, and liquidity buffers to maintain its dollar peg. Despite the regulatory troubles in Germany, USDe is still the fourth-largest stablecoin in circulation, with a market value of approximately $4.8 billion.
Top stablecoins by market cap (Source: CoinMarketCap)
The move shed some light on the growing regulatory scrutiny under MiCA, which is the European Union’s comprehensive crypto framework. MiCA enforces stringent requirements on stablecoin issuers, including adequate reserves, asset segregation, and regular reporting. So far, ten stablecoin issuers have received approval under the regulation, including Circle, Crypto.com, Societe Generale, and Membrane Finance. However, some major issuers like Tether have opted not to pursue registration at this time.
AWS Outage Disrupts Major Crypto Exchanges
While OKX is expanding its horizons in the US, other exchanges recently faced some challenges. A major network outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) on April 15 disrupted operations across several centralized crypto exchanges and wallet providers, including Binance, KuCoin, MEXC, and others.
The incident was caused by “connectivity issues” in an AWS data center, and it affected at least 12 AWS services and triggered widespread technical problems for crypto platforms that rely on AWS infrastructure to support high-speed, low-latency trading and transaction processing.
Binance was among the first to report the disruption. The exchange acknowledged failed orders and advised its users to retry unsuccessful transactions. The company later confirmed that services, including user withdrawals, were restored with the help from AWS technical support.
Other major platforms like KuCoin and MEXC also reported similar issues, with users experiencing problems like chart irregularities, failed order cancellations, and delays in asset transfers. Despite the temporary glitches, exchanges reassured customers that all assets remained secure.
At 9:30 am UTC, at least eight exchanges, including Coinstore, Gate.io, DeBank, Rabby Wallet, and Weex, were affected by the AWS outage. By 1:50 pm UTC, most of the platforms were able to resume normal operations, with the exception of DeBank.
Naturally, the outage reignited criticism about the overreliance of centralized crypto infrastructure on a single service provider. Industry voices pointed out some of the risks posed by this centralization, and called it a potential single point of failure. AWS powers much of the crypto industry’s backbone, including services used by leading exchanges like Coinbase, Crypto.com, Huobi, BitMEX, and Kraken.
Commentators like Edmund Chua of mETH Protocol and Bitget CEO Gracy Chen used the event to advocate for decentralized infrastructure. They pointed to alternatives like Filecoin for decentralized storage, Akash Network for computing resources, and Render Network for GPU-based services, and suggested that there is a need for broader adoption of decentralized cloud solutions to prevent similar issues in the future.
OKX Reenters US Market Backed by New Leadership
The former Barclays executive will be the CEO of OKX US. The exchange will begin by offering its centralized trading platform and OKX Wallet, with plans to support major cryptocurrencies and integrate with local banks. The relaunch follows OKX’s $505 million settlement with US regulators over compliance violations. After the settlement, the exchange fully committed to better regulatory standards and brought on former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as an advisor. Meanwhile, Ethena Labs, the issuer of synthetic stablecoin USDe, recently excited Germany after BaFin’s regulatory clampdown and will no longer pursue MiCA authorization. On a broader scale, a major AWS outage on April 15 disrupted the operations for a number of centralized exchanges. This reignited talks about the crypto industry's reliance on centralized cloud infrastructure and prompted new calls for decentralized alternatives.
OKX Makes US Comeback
Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX officially announced its reentry into the United States market, and unveiled a phased rollout plan that will gradually onboard users throughout 2025. The move is accompanied by the appointment of former Barclays executive Roshan Robert as the CEO of OKX US.
In a blog post dated April 16, Robert shared that the company will begin by offering its centralized crypto exchange and the OKX Wallet to American customers. The broader nationwide launch is set to follow later this year. The new regional headquarters will be based in San Jose, California.
As part of this relaunch, existing Okcoin users will be migrated to the updated OKX platform, which will deliver improved features like deeper liquidity, lower trading fees, and more sophisticated tools for market participants. The company is also promising integrations with local banks and will support major digital assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USDT, and USDC. To maintain transparency, OKX will continue publishing monthly proof-of-reserve reports audited by cybersecurity firm Hacken.
Beyond its exchange services, OKX is also bringing its wallet to US customers. The OKX Wallet supports 130 blockchains and includes a decentralized exchange aggregator that offers access to over 10 million tokens on networks like Ethereum, Solana, and Base.
This renewed push into the US market comes after OKX settled legal issues with federal authorities. Earlier this year, the exchange admitted to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in violation of US Anti-Money Laundering laws. The company agreed to pay $84 million in penalties and forfeit $421 million in profits that were obtained largely from institutional clients. To address the concerns raised during the investigation, OKX pledged to improve its compliance framework and brought on former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as an advisor.
After these resolutions, OKX’s CEO Star Xu said that the firm is fully committed to becoming a leader in compliance standards across global markets.
Ethena Labs Exits Germany
Meanwhile, the developer of the synthetic stablecoin USDe, Ethena Labs, is shutting down its German operations after regulatory pressure from BaFin. This is Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
Less than a month after BaFin identified compliance deficiencies and possible securities law violations related to the USDe stablecoin, Ethena Labs announced on April 15 that it reached an agreement with the regulator to cease all activities of its German subsidiary, Ethena GmbH. The firm also confirmed that it will no longer pursue Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) authorization in the country.
The decision was made after BaFin halted all minting and redeeming activities for USDe in Germany on March 21. Ethena explained that since that date, no such operations were conducted through its German entity. Users who were previously onboarded with Ethena GmbH have now been transitioned to its international arm, Ethena (BVI) Limited, effectively severing any remaining ties with the German subsidiary.
Unlike conventional stablecoins like USDt and USDC, which are backed by fiat reserves, Ethena’s USDe uses a synthetic dollar model that relies on an automated delta-hedging strategy combining spot crypto holdings, on-chain custody, and liquidity buffers to maintain its dollar peg. Despite the regulatory troubles in Germany, USDe is still the fourth-largest stablecoin in circulation, with a market value of approximately $4.8 billion.
Top stablecoins by market cap (Source: CoinMarketCap)
The move shed some light on the growing regulatory scrutiny under MiCA, which is the European Union’s comprehensive crypto framework. MiCA enforces stringent requirements on stablecoin issuers, including adequate reserves, asset segregation, and regular reporting. So far, ten stablecoin issuers have received approval under the regulation, including Circle, Crypto.com, Societe Generale, and Membrane Finance. However, some major issuers like Tether have opted not to pursue registration at this time.
AWS Outage Disrupts Major Crypto Exchanges
While OKX is expanding its horizons in the US, other exchanges recently faced some challenges. A major network outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) on April 15 disrupted operations across several centralized crypto exchanges and wallet providers, including Binance, KuCoin, MEXC, and others.
The incident was caused by “connectivity issues” in an AWS data center, and it affected at least 12 AWS services and triggered widespread technical problems for crypto platforms that rely on AWS infrastructure to support high-speed, low-latency trading and transaction processing.
Binance was among the first to report the disruption. The exchange acknowledged failed orders and advised its users to retry unsuccessful transactions. The company later confirmed that services, including user withdrawals, were restored with the help from AWS technical support.
Other major platforms like KuCoin and MEXC also reported similar issues, with users experiencing problems like chart irregularities, failed order cancellations, and delays in asset transfers. Despite the temporary glitches, exchanges reassured customers that all assets remained secure.
At 9:30 am UTC, at least eight exchanges, including Coinstore, Gate.io, DeBank, Rabby Wallet, and Weex, were affected by the AWS outage. By 1:50 pm UTC, most of the platforms were able to resume normal operations, with the exception of DeBank.
Naturally, the outage reignited criticism about the overreliance of centralized crypto infrastructure on a single service provider. Industry voices pointed out some of the risks posed by this centralization, and called it a potential single point of failure. AWS powers much of the crypto industry’s backbone, including services used by leading exchanges like Coinbase, Crypto.com, Huobi, BitMEX, and Kraken.
Commentators like Edmund Chua of mETH Protocol and Bitget CEO Gracy Chen used the event to advocate for decentralized infrastructure. They pointed to alternatives like Filecoin for decentralized storage, Akash Network for computing resources, and Render Network for GPU-based services, and suggested that there is a need for broader adoption of decentralized cloud solutions to prevent similar issues in the future.