Highlights From CZ’s September 1 AMA on X Spaces
Main Takeaways
On September 1, 2023, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance’s CEO, spent an hour on X (formerly Twitter) Spaces, answering a slew of user questions.
Some of the most intriguing questions covered CZ’s personal life, the recent FUD surrounding Binance, BNB Chain developments, and the need for crypto.
Though the crypto industry may face issues and uncertainty in its maturing development, Binance remains a clear market leader through its regulatory transparency and robust innovation.
What follows is a summary of CZ’s answers to some of the questions he received during an X (formerly Twitter) AMA on September 1, 2023. Please note that this transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
On Recent FUD
How would you respond to the rumors and Binance FUD spreading around lately?
CZ: There's always going to be FUD, right? A lot of people have their own motivations. Negative news sells more clicks. However, I think it's worth mentioning that there's no accountability for these people when they're wrong. When a news article carries some FUD that turns out to be false, there's no recourse.
There are people who still try to paint Binance like FTX. I think we've proven many times that we're not like FTX. It's clear that Binance does not have loans, is not involved in cross-collateralization, etc. Binance has a very simple capital structure that is debt-free, and we hold user assets such that there's no commingling of user funds. In fact, FUD gives us the opportunity to clarify that. We have withstood background checks, stress tests, etc. I think FUD actually gives us opportunities to prove ourselves.
The second piece of FUD out there is that Binance is becoming weaker because of regulatory and media scrutiny. We're still the market leader by a very wide margin and have just crossed 150 million registered users. While the scrutiny is not easy, it's actually making us stronger as a business. Over the last two years, we've invested massively in compliance, talent, processes, technologies, etc. We are a much stronger company today than we were two years ago, and we're way ahead of the game in terms of regulatory compliance and standing up to scrutiny.
I think the industry is also maturing. There's a very strong acceptance of crypto, and there's very strong proof that Binance is a solid platform. At the end of the day, we just have to keep our heads down and continue building.
On Personal Life
What are you doing in your personal life outside of crypto?
CZ: I don't do very much. I'm a very boring person. I like to read. I don’t play video games. I don't play golf, and I don't go to clubs. I don't do any of those things. I do have dinners and chats with friends, just hanging out. I listen to a lot of books, and I try to exercise a little bit almost every day. I try to either spend some time doing HIIT exercises in the gym or swim for a bit – stuff like that. Other than that, I just read books and hang out with friends when I have free time.
I've been reading a lot of negotiation-related books recently. Actually, I would highly recommend that to everyone. I think negotiation skills are important for everyone; if everyone knew how to negotiate, it would make the world a better place. Many people have the wrong perception that negotiation is just haggling, but negotiation is really about finding solutions to help both sides.
I also read a lot of entrepreneur and self-help books, but not so many fiction books. I published my book list in the past, but I need to publish an update. I've also been reading quite a bit of biographies, learning about how other people have lived. So yeah, in my personal life, I most often listen to a book and try to exercise a bit.
On the Need for Crypto
What are your thoughts on which countries need access to cryptocurrencies right now?
CZ: My honest opinion is that every country needs crypto. Some countries need it more urgently than others. In more developed countries, this may be less of a need. However, there are countries that don't have their own currencies, countries that use other countries' currencies to survive, and countries where mobile phone adoption is below 50% and banking adoption is below 10%. Those countries really need to provide financial access for their citizens today, and the easiest way for them to do so is with mobile phones, blockchain, and the internet. There are many countries like that.
I think most people who share content on social media are generally from more developed countries; the voices of less developed countries are generally less heard. There are countries with high inflation, and for them to adopt a Bitcoin standard would be much better. They could safeguard their citizens' wealth, and when you safeguard your citizens' wealth and participate in a global economy, you can do better. I think the technology is there, and I think we are already seeing smarter leaders take an adoptive stance towards the crypto industry. That's happening in many different countries, which is very positive.
Also, it feels like the world is in a kind of flux; there are a lot of changes in the world. There's a lot of potential instability in the world, and in this kind of unstable environment, a mathematically guaranteed protocol that acts as money is actually much more stable than anything else. I think more people are realizing this, and we're seeing more adoption.
On BNB Chain
What plans do you have to bring some momentum back to BNB Chain?
CZ: I don't have a plan and shouldn't have a plan for BNB Chain. It's a decentralized ecosystem, so I'm not involved in the technical aspects of it. I'm still spending most of my time dealing with our centralized exchange. BNB Chain is decentralized as its own kind of ecosystem, but I do talk to some of the guys there from time to time. BNB Chain was quite hot when Ethereum gas fees were high a couple of years ago, and there were no Layer 2s. Now, quite a lot of applications have moved to layer-2 solutions. Still, BNB Chain posts the largest number of daily active users by far.
I think my philosophy is always to go where the users are. As long as the user community is there, developers will go there. I have not had time to look into developer ecosystems, so I have not been involved in that. However, I hope that more developers come to BNB Chain and build a more vibrant ecosystem. I think there are improvements that can be made, but I don't make plans there. I view myself as one participant in that ecosystem, and I have not been focusing too much of my own energy on that.
Nevertheless, we are extremely supportive of projects in the BNB Chain ecosystem in terms of investments, connections, listings, etc. There are also quite a number of new developments on BNB Chain. There's opBNB, a Layer 2 built on top of BNB Chain, which I think is a very interesting project. There's also BNB Greenfield, a completely new chain for storage and enabling internet-based applications. All of these things are still happening, and they're actually happening at a faster pace.
Again, I think that it's always good to reduce fees further. It's always good to increase capacity further. If we want to build large-scale internet applications, then we need that kind of capacity at a very low cost. There are things that other blockchains are very strong at, which is good. Nevertheless, I would expect BNB Chain to continue to be a major player in the blockchain ecosystem and continue to develop.
You can listen to a recording of the AMA in full here.
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