Eleven years in crypto is not simply an anniversary. It means navigating multiple boom-and-bust cycles, changing asset narratives, exchange failures, and the growing convergence between traditional finance and onchain markets.
At its 11-year mark, LBank reports more than 30 million registered users and $23.81 billion in daily trading volume. In an exclusive interview with Bitcoinist, Eric He, LBank’s Community Angel & Risk Management Advisor, looks beyond the next hot token to discuss a more consequential question: how an exchange can balance speed, access, security, and durable trust as the market becomes more complex.
Q. LBank is marking its 11th anniversary. Looking back, what is the most important principle the company has learned—not the biggest growth number?Eric He: A ship is safest in port, but that is not what ships are built for. In favorable markets, any platform can talk about growth. The real test comes when volatility rises and confidence is fragile: can the platform keep operating reliably, and can it keep risk management ahead of volume?
Over eleven years, what users expect from an exchange has changed. Early on, the questions were simple: Is the asset available? Can I trade it? Today, users also ask whether liquidity is real, whether listings are handled with discipline, how their assets are protected, and whether the platform helps them navigate a more complicated market.
That is why we have kept evolving our product and infrastructure rather than treating an anniversary as a static milestone. This year, LBank surpassed 30 million registered users globally. To me, that is not a finish line. It represents 30 million individual choices across regions, languages, levels of experience, and risk appetites. The number that matters most is whether they choose to stay with LBank through the next market cycle.
Q. Competition among exchanges is moving beyond who lists assets fastest toward who can support more trading use cases. What role should LBank play in this next phase?Eric He: Aristotle wrote that excellence is not an act, but a habit. An exchange should not be just a page that brings buyers and sellers together. Across asset discovery, trade execution, and risk decisions, it should help users build better trading habits over time.
The exchange used to be mainly a gateway. Going forward, it needs to be more like disciplined trading infrastructure: responsive to crypto-native opportunities, while giving users better liquidity, better tools, and clearer risk context. For LBank, that means advancing three things at once: staying close to emerging crypto narratives, expanding access to assets connected to the real economy, and continuing to improve risk controls and trading experience.
We do not believe more features automatically create more value. The objective is to give users a coherent path. They may begin with assets they already understand, then—once they understand the rules and risks—access tokenized U.S. equities, stablecoin-related products, or other eligible asset classes. The measure of success is not whether a feature exists, but whether users genuinely use it.
Q. At the 11-year milestone, what achievements best represent where LBank is today? Which metrics do you want the market to pay attention to?Eric He: The most meaningful achievements are not isolated peaks. They are a set of indicators showing that users continue to choose the platform and that the platform itself is becoming more capable.
This year, LBank reached 30 million registered users and $23.81 billion in daily trading volume. In 2026, spot trading volume reached $16 billion, while total trading volume reached $23.81 billion. More importantly, growth is not coming from one market alone. Our monthly TradFi trading volume reached $3 billion, while LBank ranked first for stock-market depth in the relevant market data. LBank Stock market share peaked at 27.32%, and U.S. stock spot market share was reported at a 340% premium to the top-10 average.
The product data matters, too. Copy trading has reached $15 billion in capital, LBank Cash has processed more than 10 million transactions, and BK Genie has served more than 1.5 million traders. We have allocated $70 million in total rewards, with $15 million in cumulative Earn subscriptions and $55 million distributed through Token Splash and airdrops. Sixteen listed assets have delivered gains of more than 100x.
None of these figures is a value judgment by itself. Together, they should answer a more useful question: Is growth rooted in real trading demand, durable liquidity, and products that people actually use—not simply short-term incentives?
Q. As tokenized U.S. equities become a new battleground for exchanges, what is LBank’s core competitive advantage in this market?Eric He: Partnerships and distribution can create a market entry point quickly. But long-term competitiveness depends on whether users can execute high-quality trades once they arrive. We do not see tokenized equities as another category to fill on a product shelf. We see them as an upgrade to what an exchange can offer: a path between crypto and traditional assets that can operate around the clock, with real liquidity and clear risk boundaries.
LBank’s first advantage is execution quality. It is not enough for an asset to be technically tradable. In a BeInCrypto market-depth report, LBank ranked first for U.S. stock spot trading depth. For HOOD-related pairs, HOODON order-book depth was 4.42 times that of Gate, HOODX was 2.23 times Gate’s, and HOODB depth was 22.8% higher than Binance’s. That matters because it shows users can do more than see tokenized equities listed; they can trade them in a market with deeper, more actionable liquidity.
The second advantage is how these assets connect to the rest of the platform. Through initiatives involving xStocks, Ondo Finance, and bStocks, we are expanding the range of assets users can access. But we are equally focused on what follows: effective price discovery, a clear understanding of asset structure, and continuity across market hours. Tokenized equities should connect with crypto-native liquidity, trading tools, and education—not sit in an isolated tab.
Our monthly TradFi volume has reached $3 billion, which signals real demand for around-the-clock, cross-market access. But this market must be built on transparency, regional availability, asset mapping, liquidity, and clear risk disclosures. Users should understand exactly what they are trading, as well as the rights and risks involved.
Q. LBank has partnered with several IPs in recent years, most notably Pudgy Penguins. Decrypt has also described LBank as a more youth-oriented exchange. What is the strategic logic behind this IP approach, and what does “youth-oriented” actually mean to you?Eric He: Being youth-oriented is not about using brighter colors or repackaging FOMO. It is about understanding how a new generation discovers assets, forms identity, participates in communities, and makes sense of complex financial ideas.
Crypto has never been just a price chart. For younger, culturally fluent users, a community, a character, or a shared language can be the entry point to a new narrative. That is the context for our partnership with Pudgy Penguins. It is not a simple logo collaboration. Pudgy Penguins is a cultural asset that Web3-native communities already understand. The collaboration helps make something abstract—liquidity—more tangible. Liquidity is not only a number on an order book; it can be understood, shared, and connected to a collective memory.
But culture is not a substitute for product. IP can lower the barrier to attention and participation. The exchange still has to deliver liquidity, product quality, risk disclosures, and reliable asset protection. We want younger users to enter LBank with their own interests and way of expressing themselves, rather than asking them to fit a standardized trader profile. That is the real meaning of this year’s anniversary theme, “Come As You Are”: preserve individual difference while providing every user with clear choices and the same baseline of protection.
Q. AI is no longer a standalone sector—it is becoming a structural force across markets. With companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI widely seen as potential IPO candidates, capital markets, technology narratives, and crypto are converging. How could this reshape asset supply, user decision-making, and risk management for exchanges? How is LBank preparing?Eric He: AI has moved beyond being another market theme. It is changing productivity, capital allocation, and how information is distributed at the same time. If leading AI companies eventually reach public markets through IPOs or other routes, users will not only be looking at an AI-themed token. They will be trying to understand different risks and opportunities generated by the same technology cycle across public equities, tokenized assets, and crypto-native networks.
That changes three capabilities an exchange needs. First, asset supply: exchanges need to support credible AI-related crypto assets and, where regulations allow, provide paths to tokenized technology exposure. But “AI” cannot become an excuse to lower listing standards. Second, user decision-making: when narratives travel faster than research, platforms should help users separate technological value, commercialization progress, liquidity, and pure sentiment rather than amplify the noise. Third, risk management: AI can improve threat detection, anomaly monitoring, anti-phishing efforts, and market surveillance. Yet AI-driven automation can also magnify errors, manipulation, and information asymmetry if governance does not keep pace.
For LBank, the work runs on two tracks. Externally, we are following the asset and cross-market trading demand created by the AI cycle, including broader technology exposure where products are available in compliant jurisdictions. Internally, we are applying AI to market intelligence, product support, and risk identification—particularly to identify unusual fund flows, account behavior, and emerging attack signals more quickly.
The boundary is clear: AI can make information more available, but it cannot make investment decisions for users. It can accelerate risk response, but it cannot replace transparent rules, human review, and accountability. The system worth building is not an “AI trader” that bets for users, but one that helps them see more clearly, trade with more discipline, and protect their assets more effectively.
Q. After exchange failures, asset misappropriation, and increasingly sophisticated attacks, what specific steps is LBank taking to strengthen security?Eric He: Security cannot be reduced to “trust us.” It is a system that has to work under pressure. The industry has learned that an exchange can only provide liquidity, execution, and global access when asset protection and risk governance are credible first.
At LBank, security is a platform-wide responsibility, not a single team’s task. At the infrastructure layer, we continue to strengthen cold- and hot-wallet segregation, multi-layer authorization, abnormal-behavior monitoring, real-time risk alerts, and incident-response mechanisms. On the user side, the goal is to make protection more visible at critical risk moments without creating unnecessary friction in ordinary use.
This year, we also launched the Crypto Resilience Initiative, with CertiK and SlowMist participating. The initiative is not about adding a one-off scan or borrowing credibility from a third party. It is about moving security from post-incident response toward long-term resilience through continuous monitoring, shared threat intelligence, incident-response exercises, and user security education. The objective is to improve both prevention and recovery when new attack methods or extreme market conditions emerge.
AI is an important layer in that effort. We are strengthening AI-assisted risk identification and behavioral analysis to detect suspicious fund flows, account anomalies, phishing activity, and attack signals earlier. But AI is not a magic word that can replace governance. It has to work alongside human security teams, defined response processes, and outside expertise. We do not promise “absolute security.” We are building defenses that can keep evolving and can be tested.
Q. How do you see the market developing from here? After rallies and pullbacks, why do you remain constructive on crypto?Eric He: I would not frame short-term price moves as a certainty. Crypto will remain volatile. Macro liquidity, rate expectations, regulation, technology cycles, and market sentiment can all change prices quickly. But if the question is whether I remain constructive on crypto’s long-term direction, the answer is yes. I am, at heart, a crypto believer.
That conviction is not based on the idea that prices only move higher. It comes from the fact that infrastructure and real demand are deepening at the same time. Stablecoins are changing cross-border settlement and onchain capital efficiency. Tokenized assets are making more real-world value accessible in flexible ways. AI is creating new productivity and data-coordination use cases. And the demand for always-on, cross-border, verifiable financial services has not disappeared.
Every pullback removes some speculation, but it also forces the industry to build stronger products, better compliance practices, and more resilient security. I see market cycles as stress tests, not tests of belief. The market can rise or fall in the short term; the longer-term direction will depend on whether the industry can turn technical advantages into real, credible, and durable user value. LBank’s role is not to call every turning point. It is to provide liquidity, tools, risk management, and access to emerging asset classes through every cycle.
Q. What behavioral advice would you offer traders in the current market?Eric He: I would rather talk about discipline than specific tokens or entry points. Crypto rewards sustained learning, but it punishes people who treat emotion as a strategy.
First, understand the asset and the product you are trading—especially more complex products such as leverage, perpetual futures, and tokenized assets. Second, define what you can afford to lose before deciding your position size, not the other way around. Third, do not let social-media momentum replace research. A trend can be a useful signal to investigate, but it should not become your conclusion. Finally, set a time horizon and an exit condition before volatility forces you to rewrite your own rules.
I remain bullish on the industry, but believing in an industry is not the same as believing in every trade. A mature trader is not someone who captures every rally. It is someone who can still be in the game when they are wrong. The platform’s role is to provide transparent information, sufficient liquidity, clear risk disclosures, and reliable tools. Each investment decision should remain independent and appropriate to the user’s own circumstances; where needed, users should consult a licensed professional.
Q. In your anniversary letter, you outlined four coordinates for the future: globalization, security, user-centricity, and a “super-ecosystem.” Why these four?Eric He: I am cautious about end-state predictions. In an industry that is continually repriced, saying “I don’t know” is not a lack of direction. It means we do not confuse imagination with certainty. That is exactly why we need coordinates that do not shift with every short-term narrative.
First, globalization. Real globalization is not translating the same press release into twenty languages. It means that a user in a small Latin American town or on a street corner in Southeast Asia can access the same baseline of trust and liquidity.
Second, security. It is not a line in a whitepaper. It is a disciplined respect for risk. In this market, risk management must always move faster than greed.
Third, user-centricity. Complexity should stay inside our systems, while the user receives a simpler, smoother experience and more tangible protection.
Finally, what we call the super-ecosystem: connecting the asset flows of traditional finance, the raw energy of crypto, and the community value of IP so they reinforce each other rather than sit in silos. These four coordinates do not guarantee that every short-term call will be right. They help us keep our direction when the tide goes out.
Q. Eleven years from now, how would you like users to describe LBank?Eric He: We do not want users to remember LBank only because it listed a particular hot asset or ran a single campaign. We want them to think of LBank when they enter a fast-moving market and need opportunity, useful tools, and a platform that respects risk.
If users come to see LBank as a place that understands crypto-native culture, brings a wider world of assets into a clear trading experience, and can be trusted when it matters, then the last eleven years will have meant something. An anniversary is not the finish line. It is the next page in the work of proving that.