OKCoin CEO Star Xu: Bitcoin’s Price Depends on User Growth

‘If the industry is only interested in buying, selling and trading bitcoin, confidence will disappear.’
The remark finds OKCoin CEO Star Xu cutting to the core of what seems to be on his mind these days. The head of the world’s leading BTC/CNY exchange, Xu looks contemplative, picking absentmindedly at the grass in front of Miami’s Fillmore Theater, winding the stems through his fingers and plucking pieces from their roots as he sits for a new interview with CoinDesk.
In contrast to the Western perception that OKCoin has led the charge toward introducing more advanced, and some would argue more risky, financial trading tools to the ecosystem, Xu’s first speaking appearance in the US was one that sought to project a more friendly and inclusive message – one that ties the fate of his company to the network at large.
Taking place on day one of The North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC), Xu’s talk was largely focused on finding ‘real use cases’ for bitcoin. On stage, he argued that bitcoin’s value is already determined by expectations of its future use, a point he later underscored.
Xu said:
‘The bitcoin market is different from the stock market. The price of the stock is based on the company’s profits or revenue. Bitcoin is different. Why does bitcoin have price? Because people believe it will be used in the future. The industry has to find a new use case, otherwise confidence in bitcoin will be compromised.’

This post was published at Coin Desk on January 22, 2015.