From the early architectural design of USDT to the DEX track: In-depth conversation with QuBitDEX founder KY

This in-depth interview features KY, the founder of QuBitDEX, a seasoned professional who spans the fields of TradFi, AI, and Crypto Assets, and was an early core architect designer for Tether (USDT). After experiencing four industry cycles and witnessing the FTX incident, KY was determined to establish QuBitDEX out of a "sense of responsibility" to address the core pain point of user asset security. Article Author: Melody Tsai, 0x9999in1 Source: ME The goal of QuBitDEX is to create a new generation of financial infrastructure that integrates the millisecond-level performance of centralized exchanges (CEX) with the asset sovereignty and security of decentralized exchanges (DEX). To achieve this, the team not only developed a high-performance Layer-1 public chain called QuBitChain but also natively supports ZK (zero-knowledge proof) technology from the ground up to address performance, cost, and transaction privacy issues. KY emphasizes that QuBitDEX's differentiated advantage lies in its deep integration of the AI engine from day one, aiming to help users upgrade from "trading faster" to "trading smarter," providing intelligent routing and decision support tools. The team is composed of top industry talents, including trading system suppliers, quantitative finance experts, and former CEOs of top CEXs, possessing profound technical and market experience. In terms of ecological development, QuBitDEX will focus on perpetual contract DEX and steadily introduce diversified assets such as RWA to serve global investors. The product has currently launched testing and initiated a points airdrop program based on "Proof of Contribution" to reward early community participants. KY believes that under the "timing, location, and harmony of people" of technology, market, and team, now is the best time to redefine decentralized trading. KuoYeh Shen, the founder of QuBitDEX, (KY), is one of the core architects in the founding phase of the encryption stablecoin USDT and has served as an advisor to Bitfinex, deeply involved in its trading system and settlement design. KY is a true builder in the crypto world. He is not only an expert in trading systems but also a thought leader bridging finance, AI, and blockchain. KY is pursuing a PhD at Tsinghua University, dedicated to infusing deep theoretical foundations and practical experience into QuBitDEX, redefining the future of decentralized trading.  In this issue, MetaEra invites KY for an in-depth conversation to understand his tumultuous personal experiences, unique insights into the Crypto Assets market, and how QuBitDEX is creating a new platform that integrates the efficiency of centralized exchanges with the security of decentralization through technological innovation, ecological synergy, and compliance development. Personal Experience: From the establishment of USDT to QuBitDEX 0x9999in1: KY Hello, it is a great honor to invite you. Before we delve into the establishment of QuBitDEX, could you please introduce yourself to our readers? KY: Hello everyone, I am KY, the founder of QuBitDEX. I have a master's degree in Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Finance. After graduating from school, I entered the financial industry, with my first job at the largest investment bank in Taiwan, responsible for pricing financial derivatives, foreign exchange derivatives pricing, and foreign exchange algorithmic trading. This experience allowed me to quickly grasp the complexity of the financial markets, especially the experience in the foreign exchange market laid the foundation for my later entry into the Crypto Assets field, where I held the highest position under the General Manager. After that, I was attracted by the concept of blockchain technology and got involved in the construction of the crypto industry early on, deeply participating in the founding stage of USDT. I was an early preparatory participant of Tether and also served as an advisor to Bitfinex, which was the largest USD crypto trading platform at that time. It can be said that I was a practitioner in the primitive era of the crypto assets industry. During my doctoral studies in computer science at Tsinghua University, I served as the chairman of the Tsinghua University Blockchain Association (TIBA), facilitating exchanges with industry leaders such as Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood at the < Tsinghua Grand Lecture >. Before I founded QuBitDEX, I was managing an early-stage crypto assets venture capital fund. These experiences, combined with my research direction focused on the intersection of AI and blockchain, have led all my thoughts to converge on one point: we must use the most cutting-edge and reliable technology to build a next-generation financial infrastructure that truly belongs to users, without having to worry about asset security. This is the original intention behind my founding of QuBitDEX. QuBitDEX Founder Motivation: Why Choose DEX Among Many Tracks? 0x9999in1: KY, your background is very unique, spanning TradFi, AI, and blockchain, and you are an early architect of industry-level infrastructure like USDT. After experiencing multiple industry cycles, many people might choose to retreat into the background to invest or consult, but you chose to personally lead the founding of QuBitDEX. We are very curious, what reasons drove you to make this decision? KY: Founding QuBitDEX is more of a "responsibility" for me. I have come from TradFi, having experienced the financial tsunami of 2008, and witnessed the fragility of centralized systems. Later, I passionately immersed myself in the encryption world and deeply participated in the early development of projects like USDT. However, the collapse of FTX made me realize that as long as users do not have 100% control over their assets, the so-called 'encryption' is just a house of cards. The asset security of users is the cornerstone of the entire industry's development and currently the biggest pain point, which is a problem I must solve. In the blockchain world, there are many exciting tracks, but exchanges are the center of value discovery and liquidity, the heart of the entire ecosystem. Looking at the development of the industry, the business model of exchanges has proven to be the most successful and healthiest in cash flow. It is not just a business, but a strategic high ground fiercely contested by all, the gateway to all future financial innovations. We believe that whoever can solve trading problems in a decentralized way, securely and efficiently, will define the infrastructure for the next generation of finance. The reason for choosing now is because of the right timing, geographical advantages, and harmony among people. Technologically, high-performance public chains, ZK, AI, and other technologies have only truly matured today, enough to support our vision. In the market, the lessons from FTX have completed the deepest user education, and the demand for asset sovereignty has reached an unprecedented height. As for the team, we are fortunate to have gathered a group of top talents who share a common belief in this mission. Therefore, now is the best time for a significant breakthrough. The Birth of QuBitDEX: The Gathering of an Industry-Leading Team 0x9999in1: Building a high-performance L1 public chain and developing complex trading applications on top of it, what kind of team is QuBitDEX? KY: Well, the establishment of QuBitDEX originates from our team's unique "genes and culture". We are not just a purely technical geek team, nor are we just a purely financial background team, but rather a deep integration of both. We have a profound understanding of the industry and have experienced several rounds of bull and bear cycles, which has resulted in a different growth ceiling for the exchange we built. The genetic composition of the QuBitDEX team members provides a clear competitive advantage. The business model of the exchange is very mature and is a battleground for many. We emphasize a community-first culture, where users can not only access useful products but also co-create products with the team. The strength of the community is a core competitive advantage. Regarding feasibility: We are more demonstrating the team's ability to complete a market cold start under limited resources, showcasing strong execution capabilities, having experienced more than four industry cycles, and successfully creating multiple crypto trading platforms. This is the entrepreneurial confidence behind our work on QuBitDEX. The core roles of the team consist of: at the technical architecture level, our technical leader is a very experienced 'system supplier of trading matching engines' in the industry. The company he founded provided underlying trading system code to hundreds of trading platforms, including Bitget. The essence of trading is finance, and the financial head of QuBitDEX is a seasoned quantitative finance expert with over 18 years of experience. Like Wintermute, Jump, and Kronos, he is a designated liquidity market maker for well-known crypto trading platforms in the industry. Our business development leader was a core shareholder and CEO of a top centralized trading platform ranked among the best globally; he led the team from 0 to 1 and ultimately successfully led the company to a full acquisition. Each member of the team has reached the top in their past work, but it is precisely because of this that we have a clearer view of the ceiling of the old paradigm. Technical Vision: Reshape DEX Paradigm with ZK 0x9999in1: Combining the efficiency of CEX and the security of DEX. This can be described as the "Holy Grail" of the industry. Can you provide us with an in-depth interpretation? KY: You are absolutely right, this is indeed the "Holy Grail" of the industry. Our slogan is "Trading experience like a centralized exchange, security and sovereignty like a decentralized exchange." I believe users should not have to make a painful trade-off between the two. We rely on two key technologies: our self-developed L1 public chain and zero-knowledge proof (ZK). We have been thinking about how to ensure the security of user assets while providing a smooth trading experience. The team has proposed that we must build a dedicated highway from the ground up. Finding a dynamic balance between decentralization and performance is our strategy:

1. Use the most frequently used application to drive the L1 cold start: concentrate all resources to perfect the perpetual contract DEX application. The trading itself can bring the most authentic users, trading volume, and cash flow; it is the first and also the strongest engine driving the entire ecological flywheel.
2. Technically, we do not engage in pointless "reinventing the wheel": our L1 is designed with high composability and openness. Our "Global Liquidity Network" will actively aggregate liquidity from the entire market. We set the stage and put on the show, naturally attracting more developers and users to join.
3. Stay focused on business: We are well aware that resources are limited, so we will be extremely focused in the early stages. The goal of QuBitDEX is not to create a "jack of all trades" public chain, but to create a public chain with clear advantages in trading performance and real user scale. By first excelling in this specific area, gaining market trust will naturally follow. From the first day of building our high-performance public chain, we have natively supported ZK smart contracts on L1, which allows us to significantly increase TPS while addressing two issues of the previous generation DEX trading platforms:
4. Performance and cost: high fees and interaction response delays will become a thing of the past.
5. Privacy Protection: ZK can also address a deeper issue: privacy. Once the positions of high-leverage traders are made public, they can become "prey" for the market. ZK technology can provide privacy protection for these trades while ensuring that each transaction is executed correctly. Vitalik and CZ are forward-thinking and are guiding the importance of ZK. What we are doing is thoroughly engineering and productizing this industry consensus. 0x9999in1: How will QuBitDEX stand out? What unique value will it bring to users? KY: We have great respect for the pioneers of the industry, who have proven that high-performance DEX is the future direction of the market with their outstanding products. QuBitDEX aims to provide users with higher-dimensional value based on this. I believe that the next stop for DEX will see the competitive dimension upgrade from mere "speed" to "intelligence." The biggest difference with QuBitDEX is that we have deeply integrated an AI engine into our architecture from day one. For users, this means that what we offer is not just a tool for trade execution, but rather a "brain" for decision support.

• At the trading execution level, our AI smart routing can help users automatically find the optimal trading path across the entire market. In terms of trading decision-making, we will gradually introduce AI-based on-chain data interpretation, market anomaly warning, and other features in the future. Our goal is to lower the threshold for ordinary users to obtain Alpha (excess returns). While other DEXs are still focused on helping users "trade faster", we aim to help users "trade smarter". What we offer is not just tools, but also the "empowerment of AI intelligence". This is our unique value. 0x9999in1: You mentioned that QuBitDEX will introduce diversified crypto assets, which is still a frontier exploration in the current crypto market. Does this mean that the platform will cater to a broader range of global investors? KY: Yes, I firmly believe that the diversification of Crypto Assets is the bridge connecting global investors, and the irreversible trend of trillions of assets moving on-chain in the future. The self-developed L1 architecture of QuBitDEX is designed to support complex assets. QuBitDEX's asset strategy is to proceed steadily: in battle, one must "be steady", and never engage in an unprepared fight; one must study thoroughly before taking action. Our operational philosophy is "doing the right thing + doing things right". We must not make mistakes, not be greedy for small gains, not seek clever schemes, and be practical and steady. I believe that creating a great Crypto Assets trading platform must follow this "long-term value orientation." This concept sounds very simple, but very few actually do it. The vast majority in the industry are speculatively and profit-driven. As a platform, we must adhere to the business model of "nurturing all things without contention." Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about RWA (Real World Assets), which are also assets that we recognize and align with our value orientation to serve a broader global investor base. Ecosystem and Community: Points System and Long-term Development 0x9999in1: Learning that QuBitDEX's products have been tested and launched is undoubtedly the most exciting news. Can you share if it's still possible to participate now? KY: Yes, our products have been launched in phases! All narratives will enter the practical stage. We have all witnessed how excellent industry pioneers like Uniswap, Dydx, and Hyperliquid have created immense value for their early user members through meticulously designed airdrop programs, which is also the aspiration of our goal. Our airdrop mechanism is based on the principle of "proof of contribution" rather than simply "proof of funds" or "zero-sum games." From the moment we launched, all contributions made by early participants on the platform will be recorded by the system and will serve as important criteria for future airdrop eligibility and weighting. I sincerely invite all friends to experience QuBitDEX's products and provide valuable suggestions and feedback.