The confidential protocol introduced to address the news of a failure of regulations by OKX, one of the top five crypto exchanges, is likely that the company is hoping to settle with US authorities for some time. It suggests.
This happened Monday when OKX announced a more than $500 million settlement with the US Department of Justice after failing to secure a money transfer license and promoting $5 billion in “suspecting transactions and criminal proceeds.” .
OKX’s meticulous planning makes for an engaging reading. The Secret Crisis Management document seen by Coindesk refers to the messaging “SWAT team,” which allows company top executives to mobilize to implement various ways that allow them to communicate settlements via social media and when speaking to reporters. Masu.
Well before the massive fines and forfeitures on Monday, OKX had prepared specific guidance on settlement, for example, with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, or Sanctions Watchdog).
A positive approach is to point out that the entire crypto industry is broadly under intense scrutiny and OKX is fully cooperating with regulators, the document said. This was reflected in a press release Monday that OKX is “thanks” DOJ’s “collaboration.”
Since President Donald Trump’s management took over last month, the main focus of Crypto Arena’s regulatory body has been to reverse its previous aggressive enforcement stance, with the SEC removing ongoing litigation and closing investigation I did. But that’s not the case with OKX, like Kucoin, which has recently had a $300 million penalty and Binance in 2023.
The guidance refers to what is expected of OKX founder Star Xu, President Hong Fang, and other executives regarding social media behavior in two scenarios.
Also, regarding OFAC issues, when asked by executives whether OKX is serving an authorized market, one suggestion states: A trivial part of your Okcoin or OKX customer base. ”
In fact, a Monday press release from OKX confirmed that US customers can trade in global exchanges.
“The total number of US customers involved — not on the platform — has become a small percentage of the company’s global customer population,” the release states.
Brand awareness
Another priority for OKX is how to choreograph the big ticket sponsorship arrangements with the Manchester City Football Club, Formula One Team McLaren, and the Tribeca Film Festival. The company estimates that around $100 million per year has been spent on these partnerships over the past three years.
The brand partner’s action plan involves OKX Marketing Chief calling each partner “the last hour before the news breaks.”
The recommended strategy here is that OKX is preparing for a regulatory review given the growing scrutiny of crypto companies. When asked why the exchange had not previously shared information about this, the document states that these are pending inquiries and non-public matters. There are also bullet points that suggest that the person responsible for the legal “Brand Partner Agreement Review Clause” between CMO and OKX will re-contract.
Do not mention OKB
Another highlight of the OKX Planning Document is Exchange’s native cryptocurrency OKB. An obvious concern in the aftermath of FTX is the proposal that OKB is being used as collateral or to fund the operation of OKX, as in the case of FTX’s FTT tokens.
Of course, OKB Exchange tokens are not the subject of anything like the injustice of FTX Exchange tokens. However, involved in the sudden flash crash in January 2024, and then OKX quickly offered to compensate users who were defeated. The token, which has a relatively thin trading volume and liquidity, saw 10 dormant wallets become active and began trading just before the crash, according to Marina Keaddova, COO Crystal Intelligence, a blockchain analytics company.
Shortly after the OKB crash, OKX executive Tim Byun was former CEO of Okcoin, head of global government relations and head of product Wei Lan was let go with OKX. A source familiar with the situation said Byun was “sacrificed” following the OKB crash.
Naturally, OKX Comms Protocol emphasizes that executives should “restrict themselves from mentioning OKB and only refer to this if asked.”
Media Management
Another part of the puzzle is how the exchange deals with media enquiries. If OKX receives an email or call from a journalist looking for comments on an ongoing investigation, the SWAT and PR teams must act to “purchase time by providing a leadership schedule.” .
Meanwhile, the plan is to “contact key-friendly publications and seed free stories into stories of origin for parallel stories,” the document says.
“1. Push delay 2. Check for friendly publications 3. We’re asynchronously putting internal/external com in line, so when the story comes up, it hits the send,” it says Ta.
OKX did not provide comments per press time
