Article Author: Melody Tsai, 0x9999in1
Source: ME
QuBitDEX aims to create a next-generation financial infrastructure that combines the millisecond-level performance of centralized exchanges (CEX) with the asset sovereignty security of decentralized exchanges (DEX). To achieve this, the team has not only developed a high-performance Layer-1 public chain called QuBitChain but also natively supports ZK (zero-knowledge proof) technology at the foundational level to address performance, cost, and transaction privacy issues.
KY emphasizes that QuBitDEX's differentiated advantage lies in its deep integration of AI engines from day one, aiming to help users upgrade from "trading faster" to "trading smarter," providing intelligent routing and decision-making tools. The team consists of top industry talents, including trading system providers, quantitative finance experts, and former CEOs of leading CEXs, possessing profound technical and market experience.
In terms of ecological development, QuBitDEX will focus on perpetual contract DEXs and steadily introduce diversified assets such as RWA to serve global investors. The product has already launched for 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 technology, market, and team, now is the best time to redefine decentralized trading.
KuoYeh Shen (KY), the founder of QuBitDEX, was one of the core architects during the founding phase of the crypto stablecoin USDT and served as an advisor to Bitfinex, deeply involved in its trading system and clearing design. KY is a true builder in the crypto world. He is not only an expert in trading systems but also a thought leader spanning finance, AI, and blockchain. KY is pursuing a Ph.D. at Tsinghua University, dedicated to infusing his solid theoretical foundation and practical experience into QuBitDEX to redefine the future of decentralized trading.

In this issue, MetaEra invited KY for an in-depth conversation to understand his tumultuous personal journey, unique insights into the crypto market, and how QuBitDEX aims to build a new platform that integrates the efficiency of centralized exchanges with the security of decentralized exchanges through technological innovation, ecological synergy, and compliant development.

Personal Experience: From the Founding of USDT to QuBitDEX

0x9999in1: Hello KY, it’s a great honor to invite you. Before we delve into the founding of QuBitDEX, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
KY: Hello everyone, I am KY, the founder of QuBitDEX. I hold a master's degree in computer science, mechanical engineering, and finance. I entered the financial industry right after graduating, with my first job at the largest investment bank in Taiwan, responsible for pricing financial derivatives, foreign exchange derivatives, and foreign exchange algorithmic trading. This experience allowed me to quickly grasp the complexities of the financial market, especially in the foreign exchange market, laying the foundation for my later entry into the cryptocurrency field, where I held the highest position under the general manager.
Later, 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 phase of USDT. I was an early participant in Tether's preparations and also served as an advisor to Bitfinex, the largest dollar crypto trading platform at the time. I can say that I was a practitioner in the wilderness era of the cryptocurrency industry.
During my Ph.D. studies at Tsinghua University, I served as the president of the Tsinghua University Blockchain Association (TIBA), facilitating exchanges with industry leaders like Vitalik Buterin and Gavin Wood at the "Tsinghua Lecture Hall."
Before founding QuBitDEX, I managed an early-stage crypto venture capital fund.
These experiences, combined with my research focus on the intersection of AI and blockchain, 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, where they no longer have to worry about asset security. This is the original intention behind my founding of QuBitDEX.

Motivation for Founding QuBitDEX: Why Choose DEX Among Many Tracks?

0x9999in1: KY, your background is very unique, spanning traditional finance, AI, and blockchain, and you were an early architect of industry-level infrastructure like USDT. After experiencing multiple industry cycles, many might choose to retreat behind the scenes to invest or advise, but you chose to personally lead the founding of QuBitDEX. We are very curious about what motivated you to make this decision.
KY: Founding QuBitDEX feels more like a "responsibility" to me. I have walked through traditional finance and witnessed the fragility of centralized systems during the 2008 financial tsunami. Later, I passionately immersed myself in the crypto world and deeply participated in early constructions 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 "crypto" is just a castle in the air. The security of users' assets is the cornerstone of the entire industry's development and the biggest pain point at present, 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 industry's development, the business model of exchanges has proven to be the most successful and cash flow healthiest. It is not just a business; it is a strategic high ground that is fiercely contested and the gateway to all future financial innovations. We believe that whoever can solve trading problems in a decentralized, secure, and efficient manner will define the infrastructure for the next generation of finance.
The reason for choosing now is due to the timing, location, and harmony. Technologically, high-performance public chains, ZK, AI, and other technologies have only truly matured today, sufficient 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 unprecedented heights. On the team front, we are fortunate to have gathered a group of top talents who share a common belief in this mission. So now is indeed the best time for a breakthrough.

The Birth of QuBitDEX: Gathering of an Industry-Leading Team

0x9999in1: Building a high-performance L1 public chain and complex trading applications on top of it, what kind of team is QuBitDEX?
KY: Well, the founding of QuBitDEX originates from our team's unique "genes and culture." We are not a purely technical geek team, nor are we a purely finance background team, but a deep integration of both.
We have a profound understanding of the industry, having experienced several rounds of bull and bear cycles, which allows us to build an exchange with a different growth ceiling. The perspective formed by the genetic makeup of the QuBitDEX team has a clear advantage; the business model of exchanges is very mature and is a fiercely contested area; we emphasize a community-first culture, where users can not only obtain useful products but also co-create products with the team, making community solidity a core competitive advantage.
Regarding feasibility: we showcase the team's ability to complete market cold starts under limited resources, demonstrating strong execution capabilities, having successfully created multiple crypto trading platforms through over four industry cycles, which gives us the entrepreneurial confidence to build QuBitDEX.
The core roles of the team: at the technical architecture level, our technical leader is a very senior "trading matching engine system provider" in the industry. The company he founded provided underlying trading system code for hundreds of trading platforms, including Bitget. The essence of trading is finance, and the financial leader of QuBitDEX is a senior quantitative finance expert with over 18 years of experience. He is a designated liquidity market maker for well-known crypto trading platforms like Wintermute, Jump, and Kronos. Our business development leader was a core shareholder and CEO of a top centralized trading platform ranked among the best globally, leading the team from 0 to 1 and ultimately successfully guiding the company to a full acquisition. Each member of the team has reached the top in their past work, but because of this, we can see more clearly the ceiling of the old paradigm.

Technical Vision: Reshaping the DEX Paradigm with ZK

0x9999in1: Combining the efficiency of CEX with the security of DEX can be considered the "Holy Grail" of the industry. Could you provide us with a deeper interpretation?
KY: You are absolutely right; this is indeed the "Holy Grail" of the industry. Our slogan is "Trading experience like centralized exchanges, security and sovereignty like decentralized exchanges." I believe users should not have to make painful trade-offs 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, leading the team to conclude that we must build a dedicated high-speed highway from the ground up. Finding a dynamic balance between decentralization and performance is our strategy:

1. Drive L1 cold start with the highest frequency application: Concentrate all resources to make the perpetual contract DEX application as extreme as possible. Trading itself can bring the most genuine users, trading volume, and cash flow; it is the first and most powerful engine driving the entire ecological flywheel.
2. Avoid unnecessary "reinventing the wheel" in technology: Our L1 is designed with high composability and openness. Our "global liquidity network" will actively aggregate liquidity from the entire market. We will set the stage and perform the play, naturally attracting more developers and users to join.
3. Maintain focus in business: We are well aware of our limited resources, so we will be extremely focused in the early stages. QuBitDEX's goal is not to create a "jack of all trades" public chain but to build a public chain with "obvious advantages in trading performance and real user scale." By thoroughly penetrating this single point, gaining market trust will be a natural result.

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 of DEX trading platforms:

1. Performance and cost: High fees and interaction response delays will become a thing of the past.
2. Privacy protection: ZK can also solve a deeper issue: privacy. Once the positions of high-leverage traders are made public, they may become "prey" in the market. ZK technology can provide privacy protection for these trades while ensuring that every 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 industry pioneers who have proven through excellent products that high-performance DEX is the future direction of the market. QuBitDEX's goal is to provide users with a higher-dimensional value based on this foundation. 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 AI engines into our architecture from day one. For users, this means that what we provide is not just a trading execution tool but also a decision-making "brain."

• At the trading execution level, our AI intelligent routing can help users automatically find the optimal trading path across the entire market.
• At the trading decision level, we will gradually introduce AI-based on-chain data interpretation, market anomaly alerts, and other functions in the future. Our goal is to lower the threshold for ordinary users to obtain Alpha (excess returns).
  We can think that while other DEXs are still focused on helping users "trade faster," we hope to help users "trade smarter." What we provide is not just tools but also the "empowerment of AI wisdom." 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 the platform will serve 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 being on-chain in the future. The architecture of QuBitDEX's self-developed L1 is designed to accommodate complex assets.
  QuBitDEX's asset strategy is to advance steadily: in warfare, one must "fight steadily," not engage in unprepared battles, and only act after thorough research.
  Our operational philosophy is "doing the right things + doing things right," avoiding mistakes, not being greedy for small profits, and not seeking clever schemes, but rather being practical and steady.
  I believe that creating a great cryptocurrency trading platform must adhere to this "long-term value orientation." This concept is very simple to articulate, but very few truly do it. The vast majority in the industry are speculative and profit-oriented, and as a platform, we must follow a business model that "benefits all without contention."
  The recently discussed RWA (real-world assets) is also an asset we recognize, aligning with our value orientation to serve a broader range of global investors.

Ecology and Community: Points System and Long-Term Development

0x9999in1: It’s exciting to hear that QuBitDEX's product has already been tested and launched. Can you share if it’s still possible to participate now?
KY: Yes, our product has 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 tremendous value for their early user members through carefully designed airdrop programs, which is also what we aspire to achieve.
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, becoming an important basis for future airdrop qualifications and weights. I sincerely invite all friends to experience QuBitDEX's products and provide valuable suggestions and feedback.