Highlights From CZ’s Fireside at the Hong Kong Web3 Festival
Main Takeaways
The Hong Kong Web3 Festival was held from April 12 to 15 and was one of the largest crypto events the city has ever seen.
On the first day, CZ spoke in a fireside chat session titled “CeFi From Now On.”
Key discussion topics included asset security, trust, user experience, regulation, CeFi vs. DeFi, mass adoption, and the industry’s future.
Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), spoke virtually at a fireside chat session titled “CeFi From Now On” during the Hong Kong Web3 Festival. The festival was one of the largest crypto events Hong Kong has ever hosted. The four-day event began on April 12, 2023, with over 10,000 attendees and 100 Web3 projects discussing the future of blockchain.
Key topics of the fireside with CZ included asset security, trust, user experience, regulation, CeFi vs. DeFi, mass adoption, and the industry’s future. Read on for a summary of the discussion. Please note the transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Asset Security
Some argue CeFi is inherently less secure than DeFi due to its reliance on centralized infrastructure. How does Binance ensure the security of user funds?
CZ: CeFi and DeFi have different characteristics; one is not safer than the other. For both CeFi and DeFi, there is a need to take security measures into consideration.
CeFi can be made very transparent – through proof of reserves, for example, which makes it verifiable through the blockchain that your funds are there. Binance does this, and our wallet addresses are also public. If a CeFi company is transparent, it can be more open than a traditional financial service provider.
With DeFi, on the other hand, the ability to hold your own keys is a good approach if you can secure them properly. You have more control and autonomy. However, most people today still need help to secure their keys properly. For most people, it is a complex process with many steps involved.
Ultimately, both CeFi and DeFi have different characteristics regarding risk and security. We shouldn’t take a one-sided view that one is better than the other.
Trust
How can users be certain they can trust CeFi companies? What else can CeFi and crypto companies do to enhance trust among users and related stakeholders?
CZ: When it comes to trust, there are three main areas I make sure to consider.
The first is the utility of technology. We work in a “trustless industry” where we can use technology for verification. Most blockchains allow you to verify directly whether the funds are there, what your own keys are, etc.
The second is the role of the community. Whether they use blockchain or not, all platforms and services must gain the community’s trust. This trust needs to be built up over time, especially for centralized platforms, as it is earned by our actions over time. Binance has done this and holds very strong user trust.
The last one is self-education in risk management. CeFi has risks, DeFi has risks, and TradFi has risks. As such, we need to learn how to manage risk effectively ourselves. Ultimately, it is important to have a balanced view of everything.
User Experience
What are some of Binance’s practices in improving user experience? Where do you think CeFi can do better to enhance the user experience and bring more users into Web3?
CZ: I agree that the Web3 and CeFi experience could be better from the perspective of today’s users. However, there are a lot of steps involved. For instance, the user experience in Web3 is not as simple as using the internet in Web2.
Because we’re dealing with money and user assets in Web3, the security component comes first. We see this through the need for things like KYC and collecting proof of address. The industry hasn’t reached the stage where strong security is easy for users to navigate. Unfortunately, often, security is inversely proportional to ease of use.
Still, we have established many security procedures. With technological improvements, we intend to reduce the procedures needed. Still, there’s a lot that Binance has already done to improve user experience. Even when it comes to KYC, we are adopting local KYC measures for each country or region. We are trying to localize the solutions using government databases, vendors, and specialized tools as much as possible.
CeFi vs. DeFi
One of the main criticisms of CeFi is that it runs counter to the decentralized ethos of cryptocurrencies. How do you respond to that criticism? What are the pros and cons of CeFi and DeFi, and how do you see the two ecosystems coexisting in the future?
CZ: CeFi is not against DeFi. Neither should DeFi be against anybody. In a purely decentralized space, everyone would be for themselves. When you form projects and initiatives, that is centralization. There will always be pockets of centralization, even within the decentralized space.
CeFi is the bridge between the TradFi and DeFi spaces, and we are facilitating that flow both ways. We should view these ecosystems as complementing one another, filling the gaps in each other’s services. There are still many other gaps that we have yet to fill. It’s not competition; we must grow collectively to strengthen the industry.
Mass Adoption
What would be the trigger for the mass adoption of blockchain and crypto?
CZ: It’s always very tricky to predict the next trigger for mass adoption. At the beginning of 2013, I wouldn’t have said Bitcoin would take off in a significant way. At the start of 2017, I wasn’t talking about ICOs. By mid-2020, DeFi was all the rage. In 2021, it ended up being NFTs. What’s important for Binance is that we provide an ecosystem where people can try different things, as different things can take off at different times.
If you want me to identify a potential trigger based on the current climate, I will point to the fact that many countries globally are starting to scrutinize and regulate the crypto industry. This, along with the limitations of the TradFi sector, can encourage greater crypto adoption.
Regulation
What would you recommend to regulators for designing a thoughtful regulatory framework for CeFi and the broader blockchain industry? What would be your suggestions to industry players when interacting with regulators?
CZ: This is a crucial topic. Having no regulatory clarity is the worst option. Having restrictive regulation is better than that – it’s not ideal, but at least you know what you must do. Having unclear regulations and ambiguous enforcement makes it difficult.
It would be better to have clear regulatory frameworks. There are always upsides and downsides to every regulatory guideline. There are always considerations to make in finding the optimal balance, which may change over time. Usually, when an industry is still maturing, it’s better to let it grow somewhat because we cannot predict what will be popular yet and regulate accordingly.
In any industry, there will always be nefarious players. How to eliminate these bad actors and establish a proper regulatory framework needs to be decided. There’s a tendency to apply existing TradFi rules to crypto, but crypto is different. Even simple questions like how to define crypto assets are tricky because there are many different types.
To do this well, regulators should have a deep understanding of the crypto space. That is why engaging in these kinds of conversations with regulators and policymakers is important, and conferences like these are also essential.
As for the players in the crypto industry, we need to engage with regulators and governments all around the world actively. We need to have an open dialogue, and we need to be patient. Through open dialogue and collaborations between industry players and regulators, we can expect the frameworks to evolve over time as we find the optimal balance.
Future Outlook
Regarding innovations or new technologies, what parts of blockchain or crypto excite you this year?
CZ: Many different parts get me excited. I focus more on its fundamental applications and less on the experiments or the early innovations. Only once something is proven to be working I begin thinking and brainstorming ideas about how to make it available to potentially billions of people.
There are many exciting experiments, but fundamentally, I believe that we must crack the wallet problem. Wallets are still not accessible enough for many people, which is a big blocker for crypto adoption. Nonetheless, Binance is fundamentally a platform provider, and our role is to give crypto access to the people.
To listen to CZ’s fireside chat session in full, you can find the recording on Binance Live. Note that CZ’s discussion is from 1:25:04 onward.