OKX integration: an Orion dev perspective | Part 2

Orion Protocol recently became the first to decentralize OKX’s order books. Users now have decentralized access to OKX’s order books using their own wallet. Orion’s industry-first technology made this possible, enabling global access to centralized liquidity once again.

Orion Protocol is building the decentralized gateway to the crypto market by aggregating multiple CEXs and DEXs into one place through Orion’s advanced liquidity aggregator. Orion Terminal, Orion’s flagship solution, combines each of these previously siloed exchanges into one deep order book, forming ultra-tight spreads and minimal slippage. Orion provides its users with the best prices for digital assets across any connected chain through its smart routing over several of the most elite exchanges in blockchain, including OKX and Binance. Combining this vast liquidity into one place also opens up unique and lucrative arbitrage opportunities for users due to the fluctuations in prices across multiple exchanges.

With the complexity involved in aggregating CEXs and DEXs together, Orion’s developers must find unique and intricate ways of tackling any challenges faced. There is no manual to read, there is no other project to learn from. Every part of the development process is another step on the path of innovation for Orion.

To understand more about the fundamental approach of integrating OKX and other large CEXs (Binance, KuCoin, AscendEX) in the industry into Orion Terminal, we continue with the second part of our talk with the Orion Protocol developers, led by CEO, Alexey Koloskov. The devs give their perspective on building this groundbreaking piece of technology. Read the first part here.

How is the dev team assigned to deal with this OKX integration and a new CEX addition in general?

“There were several developers involved, with the integration process totaling around a week but this can take longer depending on the tasks involved. Areas to be covered during integration include studying the API documentation, working with spot and margin swaps, configuration of assets and pairs in each network and finally developing the list of assets.”



The dev team comprises specialist areas including back-end and front-end teams and depending on what is involved in each of the objectives, a certain number of developers may be assigned to the tasks whilst other work is ongoing elsewhere. Work is allocated in order to handle the tasks as smoothly and effectively as possible, ensuring the best progress is met on integrating the new CEX.

Once a CEX is integrated, is it then easier to add assets to Orion after that?

“It is easier to add new assets since CEX integration allows for access to liquidity on new pairs traded on this exchange. Besides this, the obvious benefit is deeper liquidity on existing asset pairs. We continue to keep adding new assets to the terminal and also to Orion Bridge, so people can make sure they are trading tokens with low gas fees. Orion Bridge is an important part of Orion.”



Adding new CEX liquidity sources opens up several choices for bringing new assets and pairs to Orion. As Orion is naturally a decentralized liquidity aggregator as opposed to an exchange, these new OKX pairs have the ability to combine with assets from CEXs already implemented (Binance, KuCoin, AscendEX and more). The result is a deeper, more robust order book of which small or large trading sizes can be processed with far less slippage and supremely tight spreads, compared to a regular exchange.

Are there any technical details about the OKX integration that you can share which would be interesting to hear about?

“Interestingly, OKX does not separate spot and margin accounts. This is not conventional, however, it improves flexibility and consistency of operations since there is no need to block/freeze assets on different accounts.”



Each CEX brings its own challenges and will require different attention to it depending on what is presented to the dev team. Sometimes the elements allow for a smoother workflow whereas other times it needs careful analysis so it fits with Orion’s general work structure. Any integration is thoroughly quality-tested through different phases before being rolled out internally, to the VIP group and then to the public.

What excites you about what you will be able to achieve for future CEX integrations?

“We are now working on a process that will help further automate the process of adding assets/pairs for CEXs/networks. This is essential for speeding up and simplifying integration even more which is certainly exciting as we will be able to substantially improve on integration speed and efficiency.”



Ensuring a consistent progression in workflow for the Orion development team makes the quality of planning and improvement for the protocol more productive. Solutions to tackling new problems become quicker, compounded by additional features and tools already set in place. The combination of improved features and workflows together bring a significant rise in Orion’s productivity as a whole, which in turn leads to a much improved user experience.

As Orion grows, the gulf between regular exchanges and far lesser aggregators in comparison to Orion, becomes distinctly more pronounced. Orion’s advantage ultimately gives significantly more value for the users, who have access to deeper liquidity, more digital assets and chains, ultra-tight spreads and more. Through the development work undertaken by Orion’s dev team, users only need to connect their own wallets to Orion Terminal for decentralized access to all of this aggregated liquidity.