Main Takeaways
Every day from March 22 to April 4, Binance ran different activities, rewards, and community initiatives as part of our dedicated Ramadan Calendar.
To kick off this initiative, Binance held its first virtual Super Meet-Up on Binance Live, featuring exclusive insights from leading Binance executives.
Among these leaders, Richard Teng (Regional Head of Europe and MENA) and Gleb Kostarev (Regional Head of Asia) discussed recent developments in their regions and the Web3 space as a whole.
MENA and APAC are two of the most important regions driving the growth and security of the blockchain industry through community-building and cooperative regulation.
Richard Teng and Gleb Kostarev had a fireside chat during the Ramadan Super Meet-Up on March 22, 2023. Read on for a summary of their discussion. Please note this transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Past and Future Achievements
What are the achievements you’re most proud of within the MENA region?
Richard: There are three key areas that we have done extremely well in the MENA region. First are the users and community. Despite a global crypto downturn last year, we saw strong growth in the number of MENA users and communities, and it’s one of the few regions that registered strong growth globally. Second is our engagement with regulators and government agencies to support global crypto adoption. By now, we have more than four licenses in the MENA region. Third is talent and staffing. When I started managing the MENA region, we had only a handful of staff. Today, we have more than 800 people in the region, so there’s been exponential growth for us. But, more importantly, we are helping to bring an extensive ecosystem to the MENA region, attracting better talent and supporting them.
What are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2023 across the APAC and Asia markets?
Gleb: APAC is an important market for us. In APAC, we see a vibrant community and a young population with a high penetration of technologies and a significant interest in blockchain. In 2023, we will focus on a range of things.
Last year, we secured numerous licenses and acquisitions; for example, we acquired local licensed exchanges in Japan and Korea. Thus, we will focus on bringing localized products and services to local customers, specifically in those jurisdictions where we have secured licenses. We also work closely with government and legal enforcement agencies. We will continue to keep a transparent and direct dialogue with regulators.
We will also launch more educational initiatives in the APAC region. We have already started collaborating with some universities, such as in South Korea. We will continue to do this and focus on bringing more adoption to the APAC region, especially nowadays when we see some global issues with the financial industry. This is why crypto will be very important as a financial tool in APAC and across the globe.
Community
What is the secret to how Binance has built such a vibrant community that keeps this industry thriving?
Gleb: I would say that Binance has always been one of the world’s most user-focused and community-driven companies. We are always trying to be very close to our community. Therefore, it’s one of our biggest priorities to hear feedback from our community regarding what they need, what issues they have, and how we can help resolve these. I think this focus has helped Binance become a global company with a huge number of active users.
We also have the Binance Angels program that was launched years ago, with many volunteers helping us develop and promote our platform globally. Having those volunteers is helping us be closer to our community because a lot of feedback comes from our Angels. We are always trying to be very connected to them. I would really want to thank all our Angels for the huge support that they provide us.
Another thing I will mention is BNB Chain. BNB Chain is a decentralized and independent project with its own independent team that is also trying to be very close to the community.
Regulation
What do you think ideal regulations should look like?
Richard: Today, only one-third of global regulators are regulating this space, while two-thirds are not. Of the agencies that do regulate, some handle cryptocurrency as a security, some as a commodity, and others as digital payment tokens, virtual assets, etc. It’s challenging for a global platform like ours. First, we hope to see a harmonization of standards so that we have one set of global standards that we can comply with in our global operations. I think that’s ideal.
Secondly, we would like clear regulations. I don’t believe that people are looking for lax regulation in the industry; people are looking for clear regulation. As long as we have this, we know how to comply. However, when rules are drafted ambiguously, it makes this difficult. Currently, a lot of rules are ambiguous, and it’s up to the regulators to decide exactly how they wish to enforce them.
The third thing is you need regulators that are pro-growth. Nowadays, most regulators just look at one particular dimension: risk. However, this one-dimensional regulation will minimize activity to almost nothing, as it’s only with nothing that we have no risk. As long as there is activity, there will be risks, and it’s important to find the right balance between mitigating risk and supporting growth. These are the ideal regulations that we need in crypto.
Security
When we think about trust and security, where do you think Binance stands out?
Richard: At Binance, we take this very seriously. First and foremost, security is an important issue. We play our role, but we need users to play their roles as well.
We work with global law enforcement agencies regarding things like scams and fraud in the industry. Within the financial crime unit at Binance, we have people who have previously worked in places like Interpol, Europol, FBI, etc. So, we take this very seriously. We have also set up a SAFU fund to protect users in the unexpected event of a security breach.
Still, users need to understand that they play a vital role. They should know how to safe-keep their passwords and basic things like that. If they want to trade things like margin products, we go the extra step to ensure users go through our quizzes to make sure they understand the product’s basic functions. They know what the risks they’re getting into are before they choose to embark on those products. We can only do our part well if users do their part well. So it’s an important issue and a collective effort by all of us.
Education and Advice
Why do you think Web3 education is so important, and why are we seeing so much demand for it?
Gleb: Web3 will revolutionize many different industries like finance, gaming, and others. However, it’s a pretty complex technology, so there’s a high entry level for developers. This is why it’s essential to give proper tools, content, and knowledge to all those developers that will build different products in the Web3 area. This demand will continue to grow because there is more and more interest from Web2 companies in the Web3 area. We, as an industry, should definitely focus on more education.
What’s the one piece of advice you would give for newcomers entering the space?
Richard: Do your own research. Use platforms like Binance Academy. If you look at where we are today regarding crypto adoption, we’re at a very early stage of about 4-5%. Much like the Internet in 1998, which had around a 7% adoption rate, crypto is at the earliest stages of development. You’ll see a lot more new use cases and developments arise. Keep up to date with these through education. There are no shortcuts. Do a lot of your own research. Don’t just rely on what you hear from other people. In my view, that’s the most important thing.
Gleb: I would add that you should definitely think about security. You should diversify your funds and consider where you keep your funds and what security tools you use. If you use exchanges, you should definitely ensure that you have different types of authorization and that nobody will have access to your account, only you. I would recommend investing more time into how you can keep your funds securely.
Expectations for the Future
What could a world that uses blockchain technology on a daily basis look like?
Gleb: I think, right now, blockchain as a technology is pretty complex. Making the technology easier for everyone will be necessary to drive crypto adoption moving forward. Therefore, I think in the future, many people will use different services and products based on blockchain technology without even realizing there is a blockchain, just like the Internet. Nowadays, we don’t really discuss how the Internet as a protocol works. We simply use it, and we have a lot of services and products based on the Internet. I think the same will happen with the blockchain and the Web3 industry.
Richard: If you look at blockchain, it’s a technology that is continuously evolving at a rapid pace. You won’t notice it’s there depending on the timeframe you’re looking at, but we will use it for everything. Especially in terms of the mid and back office, but also as far as front office functions within most firms. These things will change quite rapidly. You also see blockchain being used for engagement with users. The entire Web3 ecosystem is built on effective engagement with users, and the usage of blockchain will facilitate that.
