Highlights

  • On July 5, 2023, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance, spent an hour on Twitter Spaces answering a bunch of user questions.

  • Some of the most interesting questions were about the usefulness of blockchain, the past and future of Binance, and building in the current market.

  • Over the past six years, Binance has experienced ups and downs, however, it continues to grow thanks to the strong team it has cultivated. Looking ahead, Binance is preparing to handle higher volumes and remain the leader in Web3 innovation and adoption.

The following is a summary of CZ's responses to some of the questions he received during the Twitter AMA on July 5, 2023. Please note that this transcript has been edited for clarity and accuracy.

On the current and potential usefulness of Blockchain

What are your future plans regarding the real-world utility of blockchain?

CZ: We have many teams working on different applications. Some have to do with sports, others with finances, among other areas. It's a pretty broad topic. We are still in the beginning. The use cases have not yet achieved mass adoption.

If we think about notarial services—anything that requires proof, transactions, or is global in nature—the adoption rate is still quite low. I don't think we have many use cases yet that really show widespread adoption, but this also speaks to the potential opportunity.

I believe these things will pass. But we are not there yet. We are still dealing with very basic functions. In time, however, I think we will get there.

About builders in today's market

What would be your advice to builders in today's market?

CZ: I think everyone should research a small number of projects so they can explore them in depth. As for the projects you like, follow them, support them and show them to other people. You could even try to join them if you want, work for them and be on the team. Any project that is good for cryptocurrencies is good for the industry.

We are in an environment where the rising tide will lift all boats. I think anything that can be done will be positive, and I would also encourage people to ignore the negative aspects. If you think a project is no good, don't waste time talking about it. There's little point in attacking them, unless they're rug pulls or something like that. It's simple: be a positive force in the industry as much as you can. If you are a big player, you can have a big impact. If you are a smaller player, just contribute what you can.

About Binance's past

What are some of the ups and downs you've experienced building Binance?

CZ: There isn't a single moment that stands out, but over time we've learned a lot of different things. When we started, for example, knowing that we had the support of tens of thousands of people was a very strong motivation to continue building our platform.

Two months later, China banned bitcoin and closed cryptocurrency exchanges operating within its borders. We had to move, and that was a big deal. That cost us about 40% of our treasury at the time, which was one of our biggest expenses. However, we also received a lot of goodwill and grew much faster afterwards.

Within six months, we became the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume. At that time, the number of incoming users was incredible. Around 300,000 daily and even reached 240,000 per hour at one point. We had to speed up the pace because our system couldn't cope.

That was five years ago. There have been many ups and downs, but despite everything we continue to grow. When I look back, what matters most to me is the team we have managed to form. We were able to create a united and effective team, and I am very proud of the one we have today. Regardless of the current pressures we are dealing with, I firmly believe we are doing the right thing. We are helping to drive the adoption of these new technologies, which we believe are beneficial for everyone on the planet.

About the next plans

Is there anything you can share regarding Binance's plans for the coming months?

CZ: Looking at historical patterns, I think we want our platforms to be prepared for higher volumes. Last November was probably the worst. If you look at the price of BTC, which can essentially serve as an industry index, it indicates how many new users we are getting, the transaction volume, the trading volume, etc. If we look long term, we must ensure our products and systems are ready for higher volumes. We are doing a lot of preparation on that front.

There are numerous initiatives that we continue to promote and we are making many investments. Every week, our investment team has several projects that they ask me for final approval for. Our teams are making various investments. I think we always want to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is another prolonged bear market. I think we have the resistance to last. We also want to be prepared for the best case scenario, which is more volume coming in.

About future goals

Where do you want Binance to occupy in the cryptocurrency ecosystem in the coming years?

CZ: I think centralized exchanges should only be a small part of the ecosystem. I would like to see the true DeFi aspects of the ecosystem grow more. I think we are already seeing it. We are seeing more innovative ways for people to have their own private keys. The solutions are more innovative and easier to incorporate. I think we will see more of these DeFi developments.

Binance has many different parts. We are delighted to be part of the centralized exchange ecosystem. We will continue to innovate and improve our services to continue raising the industry benchmark. We value competition, but we must continually raise the bar for our quality of products and services.

On the DeFi side, we continue to make large investments. We make a lot more early-stage investments; We let projects grow and we want to help them in any way we can. We also have our own initiatives in different DeFi protocols.

If we look at everyday use cases—sports, arts, services, payments, etc.—we need to explore them a lot more. Binance will continue to contribute to the ecosystem through various channels as much as we can.

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