Highlights From Richard Teng’s Chat at Taipei Blockchain Week
Main Takeaways
On December 14, 2023, Richard Teng, Binance’s CEO, sat for a fireside chat at Taipei Blockchain Week.
Some of the most intriguing questions for Richard were about his personal journey, the future of crypto adoption, and the role of Binance’s community.
As Binance continues on its new chapter, our commitment to users remains our most important focus. We are also pivoting toward being a compliance-led organization, combining these two priorities to ensure a robust, sustainable future.
What follows is a summary of Richard Teng’s answers to some of the questions he received during a fireside chat at Taipei Blockchain Week on December 14, 2023. Please note that this transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
On Becoming CEO
What does your new position mean for Binance? What changes can we expect from this transition?
Richard: Firstly, I feel very honored and humbled. CZ, the leadership team, and the rest of my staff have placed their trust in me to lead this very important franchise. I take that responsibility very seriously. Our user base continues to grow. We now have over 167 million users globally, and that number continues to grow at a rapid pace.
I've set up my three commitments at the start of my tenure. Firstly, continuing to be user-focused. Over the past six years, that’s what made us become the top crypto exchange globally. Going forward, that's what's going to continue driving us. User protection is sacrosanct, and we place a lot of emphasis on that.
Secondly, working with global regulators to uphold industry standards. The direction of travel in crypto is clear: you're going to see much more regulation. Thirdly, I want to work closely with global and local partners to embrace Web3 and push ahead with crypto adoption. The more we can build our ecosystem, the better off everybody is.
On Personal Journey
How does one go from being a regulator in Singapore to now the CEO of Binance? What are some lessons you learned along the way?
Richard: I am not the traditional regulator you may think of. Even during my days with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), I was involved with developing Singapore as a financial services center. To me, it is two-dimensional. You have to make sure you support growth as well as manage risk. If you look solely at managing risk, you're not going to support very dynamic growth. These two are very important to balance.
I was fortunate in the early days of my career, as I was involved in trying to develop Singapore as a financial center, building the wealth management, asset management, insurance sectors, our exchange, etc. I got firsthand experience on how to get those things right. I was then at Singapore Exchange (SGX), and then I was headhunted to be the CEO of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
Again, I had the opportunity to build up a new financial center, which isn’t easy. I was in charge of both business development and the regulatory side, as well as how to get that balance right. In 2017, I became one of the first regulators in the world to get a taste of crypto, and I said, “This is going to be the future of finance.”
For crypto to gain mainstream adoption, you need two things. First, you need clear regulations. If there's transparency of rules, the industry knows how to operate, and users can gain confidence. Second, with clear regulations, you're going to bring in institutional investors, which is important. They bring in new assets, liquidity, users, products, and research, and that is very important for the mass adoption of crypto.
On Regulatory Collaboration
What are the biggest challenges for regulatory collaboration, and how should the industry address this?
Richard: Other than internal stakeholders, you have to engage with three key external stakeholders. Firstly, your policymakers and regulators. Secondly, your partners. Thirdly, your users – if nobody uses a platform, then you're nothing. For the first group, I would say there's still a knowledge gap in understanding the technology and potential of crypto. Those are conversations we have globally. Many jurisdictions approach us when they want to start regulating crypto – there's a knowledge gap here.
Traditional media still associates crypto and blockchain with scams and illicit funds. However, if you look at the data, the amount of illicit funds flowing through crypto is a very small fraction of what flows through fiat channels. Crypto is a traceable technology, making it easier to track than fiat currency. The beauty of the technology is evident.
We hold many classes for law enforcement agencies and regulators. Last year, we conducted classes in Taiwan for law enforcement agencies. This is part of our educational efforts and collaboration. We want to debunk some of the myths and misperceptions around crypto to build this sector in a more robust and vibrant way.
On Institutional Adoption
This past year, we've seen many institutional players embrace crypto. Do you think this will trigger the next wave of mass adoption, and where are we now on this front?
Richard: Even since 2017, my thesis has been that you need two dimensions to come into play for mass adoption to take place. Firstly, clear regulation, which we are seeing now, so the momentum is picking up on this front. Secondly, we’re seeing strong momentum in terms of institutional adoption. The top hundred financial institutions, and even the local financial institutions, are getting keen and interested.
My belief is that the backbone of finance for the next 20, 30 years is going to be built on blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). These are going to be the wave for the future – it's an undeniable trend. Technology will continue to improve itself, including crypto. We're going to see many exciting use cases and projects, and it's going to be much more robust. To bring us from 1% to 5% took us a fair amount of time, but from 5% to 10% or 20%, it's going to take a shorter period of time. With institutions coming in, there will be new money pools, liquidity, users, research, products, etc., and the pace of adoption is going to be much faster.
On Binance Web3 Wallet
How important is the Binance Web3 Wallet in the broader Binance ecosystem? What can we expect from it next year?
Richard: We keep innovating on different user fronts, and the Binance Web3 Wallet is one of those. It allows people to access Web3 through a simple interface. One of the key challenges for Web3 is the UI/UX. Our Web3 wallet solves many of these problems. It makes it very secure, easy to use, and facilitates access on that front. We will continue to innovate.
Recently, we rolled out our work with institutions and VIP traders – a tri-party agreement for our traders to customize with financial institutions and to offset some of the counterparty risks. We will continue to experiment on different things that the community, our users, and institutions want. We look forward to all these partnerships and all the important feedback from the community. I love speaking to our community because, every time we get to do so, it makes us think, “What else can we do better? What else can we enhance and improve upon?”
On Binance’s Community
What's your take on the Binance community, and how can Binance leverage its power to bring more people in and create even better experiences for everyone?
Richard: For some time, the U.S. issue was overcast on us. For the last two years, there were potential partners that stayed on the sidelines and didn't come into partnerships with us. Now that we have resolved these historical issues with the U.S. agencies, we have many partners lining up to engage in Web3 and crypto with us.
Our user base has always been strong and has never forsaken us. They always place their trust and confidence in us, and that's extremely important. After the U.S. resolution, our user base continues to grow rapidly – now, it's 167 million. Net inflows have been very robust after the U.S. resolution. Users continue to have trust and confidence in us. Our community is supportive of us, and that is what makes us strong.
We pay much attention to our community, users, and the feedback they have. We will continue to do so. I mentioned that we are a user-focused organization – that will not change. However, we will also pivot toward being a compliance-led organization, managing these two aspects to make us sustainable and prosper for the next 60 years.