An ongoing discussion in the crypto industry about the adoption of decentralized services and the risks of centralized custody will likely fuel a growing interest in self-custody, according to OKX’s President, Hong Fang, in a recent CoinDesk interview.

Fang emphasized that while institutional adoption and the rise of crypto ETFs benefit the sector overall, there might be a narrative shift to caution against the risks associated with centralized custody. She forecasts that this year, self-custody will become the norm among most crypto users.

On OKX, the assets in self-custody wallets, nearly $50 billion, surpass those on its centralized platform, which holds $30.8 billion.

“The tension between adoption and concentration risk will come under a spotlight,” said Fang, who is set to speak at the Consensus Hong Kong event in February. “I expect increased industry efforts to highlight the importance of self-custody, educating users on its usage and introducing more products that facilitate self-custody while mitigating risks.”

Fang noted that the volume of decentralized exchange (DEX) transactions on OKX has surged 20-fold, asserting that DEXs and centralized exchanges can coexist beneficially. She explained that the crypto-native audience desires the reliability of centralized exchanges while leveraging decentralized platforms to explore new innovations.

A National Bitcoin Reserve?

The concept of a national bitcoin reserve has been mentioned by the new Trump administration as a means to centralize cryptocurrency. However, many in the crypto community are skeptical about its realization. According to Fang, significant countries like the U.S. are unlikely to officially adopt such strategies at this time. Nonetheless, the potential for smaller nations or states to embrace this idea remains.

She expressed concern over excessive centralization. “Self-custody can serve as a safeguard against that risk, and the market is rapidly adopting it.”