Original title: Crypto Exchanges Target Xiaohongshu

Original author: Ada, TechFlow

“I heard that you need to have 10,000 followers on Xiaohongshu to apply for Binance’s campus recruitment?”

A screenshot of Xiaohongshu caused a stir in the encrypted job-hunting group.

"It's harder than getting a 985 degree," someone joked in the comment section.

In fact, Binance’s official JD doesn’t have a “hard follower threshold,” but it does clearly state: “Experience in successfully operating social media accounts is preferred, especially those with experience in video, Xiaohongshu, and AI-related content.”

This is no joke. Crypto KOL "AB Kuai.Dong" bluntly stated on Twitter:

"The attitude of major exchanges towards Xiaohongshu has changed from 'should we start' to 'can we make it big'. Some are now even specifically recruiting fresh graduates with experience in setting up Xiaohongshu accounts."

From Weibo, Twitter, and Douyin to today's Xiaohongshu, the marketing battlefield of exchanges is quietly shifting.

This shift was not an impulsive one.

Between 2023 and 2024, Xiaohongshu's user profile underwent key changes: content related to investment and financial management, overseas life, and remote work grew exponentially; users aged 25-35, from first- and second-tier cities, and with a bachelor's degree or above accounted for more than 60%.

These people happen to be the core users that cryptocurrency exchanges are most interested in competing for.

On this platform that started out with beauty and fashion, exchanges are cautiously testing the boundaries of the platform, packaging their own "ambitions" with street interviews, workplace stories, and wealth notes.

Is Xiaohongshu really the new growth paradise for the crypto industry?

History of Cryptocurrency Traffic Migration

To understand why exchanges are betting on Xiaohongshu, we must first understand the "history of crypto traffic migration."

In the memories of many old people in the cryptocurrency circle, Weibo has long been the center of public opinion in the Chinese crypto world.

Between 2017 and 2022, executives from major exchanges engaged in heated online battles on Weibo, competing for their image and threatening each other, creating a virtual "open arena" for the industry. Numerous newcomers also completed their first trades based on the information and market calls of Weibo crypto bloggers.

At that time, whenever Bitcoin soared, an exchange would spend money to buy hot searches on Weibo, allowing terms such as "Bitcoin surge" to top the list, attracting countless retail investors to watch.

However, everything came to a screeching halt after regulations were implemented. As regulations tightened, the accounts of industry veterans like Justin Sun and He Yi were shut down, and a large number of influencers (KOLs) were completely purged. Forced to migrate, they ultimately converged on what is now X (Twitter), forming a new Chinese crypto social network.

Today, Twitter is undoubtedly the largest "square" in the crypto world—Vitalik posts updates on Ethereum upgrades there, CZ responds to skeptics there, and various influencers engage in heated debates. But precisely here lies the problem: it's too "in-the-know."

After years of competition for traffic, potential new crypto users have long been divided up by KOLs with invitation links. Today's market is more like a tug-of-war between existing users.

For the majority of Chinese-speaking users, Twitter has always been separated by a glass wall, unable to reach the lower-tier markets and difficult to attract a wider audience.

Douyin was once considered a potential "cryptocurrency gold mine." It has unparalleled content explosion power, but the problem is: this explosion is difficult to accumulate.

Fast-food content consumption makes it difficult to build the trust required for financial products.

"The life cycle of Douyin content is too short," commented new media analyst You Muzhi. "It was originally designed for exposure and traffic, not trust. Once it leaves Douyin, its vitality quickly fades, and its influence struggles to permeate users' daily lives."

Bilibili once carried the educational content of the exchange, from "currency popularization" to "strategy teaching", and was a window for acquiring new traffic.

Similar to the difficulties encountered by Weibo, as regulations become stricter, words such as "Bitcoin" and "exchange" are systematically restricted, creators are overwhelmed, and the exchange's investment has gradually lost stability.

Unlike these old battlefields, Xiaohongshu has completed a quiet but thorough evolution in the past two years.

This is no longer just a community for sharing beauty and fashion. Content related to investment and finance, technological exploration, and overseas life is growing exponentially. Users aged 25-35, with a bachelor's degree or above, and located in first- and second-tier cities account for over 60% of the total.

This group of people is exactly the core customer base that crypto exchanges dream of.

More importantly, Xiaohongshu’s traffic distribution method is completely different from Douyin.

Instead of relying on a monopoly of top bloggers, it allows even KOCs with just 1,000 followers to gain significant exposure. For example, a post by an ordinary user on Xiaohongshu titled "Bybit is still open, hurry up!" can garner thousands of likes and interactions.

Another secret weapon of Xiaohongshu is its natural "trust chain".

Unlike public traffic platforms, Xiaohongshu's community is centered around people. Users interact with bloggers in the comment section, send private messages, and even join group chats. The entire process feels like word-of-mouth recommendations between friends, rather than cold advertising.

For encryption products with high barriers to entry and high learning costs, this chain means a shorter conversion distance.

A research report by Xinbang even calls Xiaohongshu the “trust engine of social e-commerce”:

It combines the traffic of internet celebrities, the information flow of sales, and the attributes of consumer opinion leaders. Traffic relies more on user-initiated searches rather than platform recommendations, which makes sales conversions more accurate and less likely to cause disgust.

Therefore, when we see Binance, OKX, and Bitget starting to put resources into Xiaohongshu, this is not a "trick" that comes on the spur of the moment, but a strategic bet that conforms to the new traffic logic.

The Secret Growth Techniques of Exchanges

OKX slashed its KOL budget on Twitter by more than half and began focusing heavily on Xiaohongshu. Multiple departments within the company were working on Xiaohongshu, and almost everyone in the Chinese-speaking department was working on it.

Crypto blogger Wuwei broke the news on X.

On Xiaohongshu, OKX's "Beijing Film Academy Campus Beauty" themed street interview video garnered over 87,000 likes. Similar street interview themes almost always easily surpass 10,000 likes, and AI short videos featuring Nezha have also garnered thousands of likes.

OKX is clearly more than just a video creator. Its strategy on Xiaohongshu resembles a carefully orchestrated marketing campaign: official accounts generate buzz, while employee accounts lurk across various content circles, creating a matrix-like penetration.

Beyond the official account, employees like Jiu Mei, Mercy, and Mia have amassed a significant following through their work-life narratives, such as "My Experience Switching to Web 3" and "Daily Life at the Exchange." While seemingly independent, they frequently interact with the official account in the comments section, creating secondary exposure for the brand and fostering a sense of connection.

On the one hand, this matrix strategy can hedge the risk of account suspension, and on the other hand, it allows brands to penetrate into a more segmented pool of people, such as young professionals who want to enter Web 3, or freelancers who pursue a "digital nomad" lifestyle.

However, for exchanges, Xiaohongshu's role may extend beyond simply acquiring direct registered users. More often, it serves as a "brand showcase"—instilling content in potential users to familiarize them with and recognize the exchange's brand, making it their first choice when they have a real trading need.

Truly efficient transformation is often completed in the "underground world".

Many private studios have been active on Xiaohongshu for a long time, tirelessly publishing traffic-generating notes.

These notes often use titles like "avoiding pitfalls," "financial management diaries," and "beginner's guides" to lure users into groups and private chats, then drop a registration link. Once users deposit funds and begin trading, these promoters receive long-term commissions. Some studios even directly place registration ads on Xiaohongshu— a practice that is one of the most stable shady businesses in the cryptocurrency world.

On Xiaohongshu, cryptocurrency is often not a cold financial tool, but is packaged as a lifestyle choice.

Instead of talking about "investing in cryptocurrency," they'll talk about "how I achieved a passive income of over 10,000 yuan per month." Instead of discussing candlestick charts, they'll talk about the financial management experience of digital nomads. Instead of discussing technical analysis, they'll talk about the path to financial freedom for those born after 2000.

This "life-like" packaging perfectly fits the content ecology of Xiaohongshu and also lowers the psychological threshold for users.

Crypto blogger Viki summarized the types of Web 3 accounts currently on Xiaohongshu that have commercial value:

Career consulting : sharing career change experiences to attract job seekers;

Investment experience : It looks like a life record, but it is actually an investment tutorial;

Lifestyle : stories about digital nomads, remote work, and overseas life;

Personal IP type : build trust through strong identity labels.

"Exchanges will cooperate with KOLs or KOCs who have these four types of accounts, and ultimately guide them into the community and register for rebate links to complete the conversion," Viki explained.

Behind this, the exchange is trying to complete a long-term brand reshaping: from a cold trading tool to a community, a companion, and even a "narrative leader."

Dancing on Thin Ice

The influx of cryptocurrency exchanges into Xiaohongshu seems to be the first step to move out of the "cryptocurrency jargon" and into the mainstream social context, but this road is not smooth.

"Bidu," a trader with 50,000 followers on Twitter, bluntly stated that trading on Xiaohongshu is "extremely cost-effective." He repeatedly created accounts and had them blocked, ultimately learning the ropes after creating over 20 accounts.

"At that time, the circle had not yet been swept up in it. Now, various exchanges are rushing in like crazy, and traffic is no longer a blue ocean." Another KOL "Digital Frenzy" said that now working on Xiaohongshu is like "rolling inside the besieged city", and the bonus period has disappeared.

In addition to fierce competition, the platform's review mechanism is also a high wall.

"If the traffic is low, there's no effect. If the traffic is high, it triggers manual review," Viki concluded. "Once you violate the rules multiple times, you'll face traffic restrictions at the very least, and even account suspension at the worst. Creating content is like dancing with shackles."

In order to avoid making mistakes, many creators have to design unique strategies for different aspects, from copywriting, typesetting to traffic diversion, which further reduces the input-output ratio.

Even more challenging are the risks of compliance and user awareness. Xiaohongshu's primary user base is young people, who lack understanding of contracts, leverage, and on-chain assets. A single misleading comment could lead to financial losses, triggering tighter regulation. Even if the platform currently maintains a certain degree of ambiguity regarding crypto content, as financial content management becomes more standardized, any public outcry could result in a full ban.

The risks are obvious, but exchanges are still willing to invest heavily.

“If you don’t rush, your competitors will get there first,” said an exchange marketing manager.

This is like a classic "prisoner's dilemma":

• If you are the only one who does it, you can indeed grab the bonus
• If everyone does it, the dividends will be diluted and the risks will be magnified.
• If you don't do it, you will watch your competitors harvest users.

So even if you know there are traffic traps and potential risks, you still have to jump in.

Breaking the circle always comes at a price, the question is, is this price worth it?

The exchanges’ adventures on Xiaohongshu are like dancing on thin ice—every step may be the last, but when the music starts, no one wants to stop.

How long will this traffic frenzy last? No one knows the answer.

The only certainty is that with traffic becoming increasingly expensive and regulations tightening, the era of "easy money" is gone. Exchanges need to consider not only how to acquire users but also how to truly create value while maintaining compliance and sustainability.

Otherwise, today’s Xiaohongshu may be tomorrow’s Weibo.

History does not repeat itself, but it always rhymes.

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