Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx announced a new feature that allows its users to convert small balances to the firm’s proprietary token OKB.

OKEx announced on April 7 that the new product allows its user to convert all the crypto asset balances worth less than 0.001 Bitcoin (BTC) ($7.38 at press time) into OKB. The upper limit for conversion value is 0.01 BTC ($73.84 at press time), there is no limit on conversion time but the conversion is only available when the price fluctuates within 5%.

A trader told Cointelegraph that small balance handling is an important feature for long-term traders because it prevents users from wasting resources when trading several different assets. He said that small balances are a big issue on crypto exchanges “because they are funds that cannot be used” to trade.

A broom for cryptocurrency "dust"

Binance has a similar feature letting users convert small balances — often called dust —  into its proprietary token Binance Coin (BNB). When the feature first launched in late April 2018, Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao joked on Twitter, “I hear the team has built a broom, who wants it?”

Just like BNB, OKB allows users to pay less for fees on the trading platform. In a Feb. 16 post, OKEx explains some of the advantages that OKB holders have on its exchange:

“There is only one trading fee discount program for OKB holders on OKEx, in which users only need to hold 500 OKBs to enjoy fee discounts. To receive the maximum discount, users only need to hold a maximum of 2000 OKBs.”

OKEx CEO Jay Hao urged traders to avoid speculating on OKB, stating, "A principle that I recommend all our users stick to is that if you do not fully believe in the long term growth of OKEx, then please do not trade OKB.”

The rise of OKEx

Over the past year, OKEx significantly grew in importance within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As Cointelegraph reported at the end of March, OKEx recently became the world’s top Bitcoin Futures exchange by daily trading volume, overtaking industry veteran BitMEX.

Hao presumably believes that OKEx's competitors do not appreciate the growth of his platform; in February he blamed them for denial of service attacks against the exchange.