Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Fu Howe (@vincent31515173)
Today, the Binance Chinese community officially introduced a new feature of the Binance Web3 wallet - Binance Alpha at the Space event.
In this event, Binance co-founder He Yi and Binance wallet business manager Winson appeared together to answer questions about new features for users and conduct in-depth analysis of the latest developments in the industry. This Space invited a number of Web3 Chinese media and well-known KOLs to participate in this discussion and asked He Yi and Winson questions about hot topics such as Binance's coin listing policy.
He Yi shared his views on the current state of the industry during the event, responding to recent controversial issues regarding Binance's listings, and elaborated on the future development plans for the Binance Alpha area.
The following is a transcript of the Space, organized and edited by Odaily Planet Daily.
Q: Binance has faced numerous controversies regarding listing new tokens in the past year. How do you view this phenomenon? What prompted Binance to launch Binance Alpha? Can you elaborate on the background of this matter and whether the project selection process is the same as for futures and spot listings?
He Yi: There are indeed higher user expectations for Binance's listings, with everyone hoping that each new listing will rise. However, the reality is that after a listing, the market value surges in the short term and then falls back. This situation prompts us to continuously seek optimization solutions, such as suppressing token prices through pre-market pricing, but the effect is limited.
The entire industry also faces some structural issues:
The project issuance cycles are short, lacking real users and solid business models. Many on-chain interaction data have been artificially 'washed' and lack value support.
The current market hype is more about distributing 'air', and the projects themselves lack labor results and profit models, making it difficult to support long-term development.
The global regulatory environment is complex, and the participation costs and risks for outstanding entrepreneurs are high, leading the industry into an awkward phase.
The original intention of launching the Binance Alpha section is to provide users with an 'observation area' to list popular but still immature projects in the market, including hot meme coins, VC-supported projects, local chain projects, etc. Users can trade these coins through the wallet, but their entry into the observation area does not mean they will ultimately be listed on Binance's spot or futures markets. Most meme coins will likely go to zero in this wave, and only a few memes can survive, which is a rather harsh reality.
The significance of the Binance Alpha section lies in providing users with tools to filter high-win-rate projects while reminding everyone to participate rationally in new projects and conduct thorough research. Ultimately, we hope to find projects that truly possess social value, can produce labor results, and give back to token holders. Nevertheless, whether it is the Binance Alpha section, spot listings, or futures listings, it is a continuous process of selection and elimination, and there is no guarantee that every token will survive long-term or allow users to profit.
For market hot meme coins, we understand their appeal and will include them in the Alpha zone to provide users with opportunities for early value capture. However, the ultimate healthy development of the industry still depends on whether excellent projects can truly create social value and share the fruits of labor.
Q: Regarding Binance Alpha, are there specific project selection criteria? Are the projects listed in Binance Alpha likely to be listed on the Binance main board in the future? Will Binance Alpha favor projects in the BNB ecosystem?
He Yi: The project selection for Binance Alpha does not solely rely on whether it will eventually be listed on the Binance main board. The selection criteria focus on the project’s popularity and attention rather than just because a project enters Binance Alpha it will necessarily be listed. In other words, while many projects entering Binance Alpha have high exposure and potential, not all projects will eventually be listed, as this depends on more market and internal assessment factors.
As one of the hot public chains in the industry, BNB Chain is indeed a key area supported by Binance. Due to the strong competitiveness and high attention of the BSC ecosystem in the market, its projects are more likely to be included in Binance Alpha. However, this does not mean that Binance Alpha is limited to the BNB Chain ecosystem; other outstanding projects will also be considered.
Q: Industry competitors are investing heavily in wallet businesses (e.g., team sizes of 500-1000 people). What is the current size of the Binance Wallet team? In the face of such strong competitive pressure, is Binance adopting a defensive or offensive strategy?
Winson: The Binance Wallet team currently has just over 100 members, but the team is still in the process of expanding, especially for technical positions, welcoming excellent engineers to join.
Regarding the significant investments and achievements of competitors in the wallet field, the Binance team expresses high respect and actively studies and learns from their strengths. However, Binance will not simply replicate their models but will explore differentiated development paths.
From the perspective of market demand, users do not need two identical wallet products, so blind imitation is not feasible. Binance believes the wallet sector has enough space to accommodate different differentiated products. The team has clarified its development path based on years of practice and is confident in it.
The strategy of Binance Wallet is neither defensive nor purely offensive, but focuses on exploring new paths:
To meet user needs, provide a simple, easy-to-use, comprehensive, and secure wallet service that addresses most users' on-chain operation needs.
With user experience at the core, making the user's usage process more 'pleasant' while providing security and data support.
We acknowledge that Binance started late in providing on-chain services. Over the past year, we have spent a lot of time recruiting outstanding talent, rebuilding the wallet team, and re-architecting the system from the ground up. Although we are still in the 'clean water house' phase, the team has clarified future plans, aiming to gradually improve functionality based on user needs.
The CEO mentioned in the summary that although Binance started late in the on-chain field, the team's confidence and resource investment are sufficient, just as Binance achieved significant progress in developing its contract business in the past, it will also make substantial progress in the future.
Q: What are the long-term development positioning and plans for Binance's new Web3 wallet? How does it differ from the positioning of Trust Wallet within the Binance ecosystem?
Winson: The positioning of Binance's new Web3 wallet is 'beginner-friendly', but it is not limited to serving novice users. The team believes that if a product is very simple for beginners to use, then experienced users can also easily get started, even if it may take some time to adjust. Therefore, the goal of Binance Wallet is to serve veteran users in the industry while focusing on new entrants, dedicated to promoting large-scale adoption of Web3, especially contributing to the popularization among mainstream user groups.
The team also plans to implement specific improvement measures in phases to address key experience challenges users face when using the wallet, ultimately achieving the elimination of all barriers so that users can use Web3 products without any thresholds.
Differences from Trust Wallet:
Platform Integration:
Binance Wallet is deeply integrated with the Binance main site, belonging to the same app, while Trust Wallet is a relatively independent product.
Compliance:
Binance Wallet is designed based on KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements and complies with regulatory standards, while Trust Wallet is a more independent product that has not been deeply integrated with Binance's compliance.
User Base:
The user base served by Binance Wallet is relatively broad, including existing Binance users and new Web3 users, while Trust Wallet focuses on providing an independent wallet experience targeted at a wider decentralized user group.
Although there is currently some competition between Binance Wallet and Trust Wallet, this is not a 'survival of the fittest' competition within Binance, but rather 'differentiated competition' aimed at providing differentiated services to different user groups and promoting the popularization of Web3. The team states that such competition will benefit the overall development of the industry, and Binance Wallet's goal is to help more people smoothly enter the Web3 field and simplify the user experience.
Q: Are the projects in the Alpha section launched by Binance selected by Binance itself, or through other means, such as community voting or open enrollment? If a project successfully 'graduates' and is listed on the Binance main board, what aspects will the main board assessment cover? How to avoid issues of data manipulation and volume inflation?
He Yi: The selection of projects in Binance Alpha includes both active selection and proactive enrollment or community recommendations from outside. The selection at Binance not only relies on industry popularity but also conducts detailed research and analysis, covering multiple areas such as public chains, infrastructure, DeFi, and NFTs. These selection contents combine on-chain data tracking and daily submission information from projects. Therefore, projects can potentially enter Alpha through application and community recommendation, but whether they are ultimately selected depends on their popularity and market performance. The Alpha section is, in fact, a relatively broad pool.
For those projects that successfully 'graduate' and have the opportunity to be listed on the main board, the assessment criteria will cover several aspects. These primarily include project quality, compliance, and development potential, ensuring that projects not only have popularity but also possess long-term development capabilities. To avoid data manipulation and volume inflation issues, Binance will conduct strict reviews of project authenticity during the selection process, including the sources of data and trading behaviors, ensuring they meet the platform's compliance requirements and maintain market fairness. Binance is also exploring whether to introduce more interesting gameplay in the Alpha section and welcomes the community to provide innovative ideas or feedback.
Data manipulation and volume inflation are difficult to avoid in the industry, especially as some projects use airdrops or volume manipulation tools to increase their popularity. Binance believes that the key is to identify which data is real and which is manipulated through continuous value judgment and industry experience.
Binance uses the Alpha section as a filtering mechanism to allow projects to first showcase and accumulate data, observing which projects can continuously attract users and create value, and which are merely inflating numbers. This is the core purpose of Binance launching the Alpha section, aiming to identify truly promising projects.
Q: How does the airdrop platform section in the Binance Web3 wallet filter airdrop projects? Can early participation in airdrops yield more returns?
He Yi: Airdrops are a tool that Binance provides to project parties and users, primarily aimed at attracting users for project parties while providing more opportunities for retail investors. Airdrops may be a goal for retail investors, but for project parties, it is more a means of acquiring users. Binance hopes to connect more quality projects and users through this platform, avoiding data manipulation and ensuring projects can interact with real users.
In addition, Binance is also thinking about how to allow users to gain more benefits through on-chain operations while ensuring that these operations are simple and secure. Besides airdrops, Binance also plans to collaborate with the industry through an open platform to jointly promote the development of Web3, creating more valuable scenarios and projects.
Winson: Binance's airdrop platform is a subsection of its open platform, aimed at connecting Binance users with project parties. The core value of the platform lies in utilizing precise user data to help project parties promote their products to suitable users. Binance does not intend to overly filter projects but allows any project parties to self-initiate airdrops through an open approach.
In the future, Binance's open platform will further expand, allowing more project parties to promote on the platform without restricting project choices. In this way, Binance's goal is to create a diversified platform, providing more opportunities for project parties and users.
Q: Will the wallet shift towards chain abstraction or intent wallets in the future? If so, will it use its own technology or that of other projects?
Winson: Binance Wallet will indeed adopt related technologies of chain abstraction and intent wallets, but will not fully switch to these two methods. The goal is to lower the user threshold for use and achieve a more convenient user experience through these technologies. Binance Wallet will not simply replicate existing solutions in the market but will conduct in-depth technical research, combining its user needs to design a suitable solution. Although technology serves the product, Binance emphasizes that technology should integrate with user scenarios to ultimately bring higher value to users rather than merely following technological trends.
Q: Will Binance adjust selection criteria or display lists based on user feedback on displayed tokens? If a displayed token encounters widespread negative feedback, how will Binance respond?
He Yi: Binance arranges the projects in its display according to its own logic, considering factors like token price fluctuations and launch times. Users can arrange them based on their own needs, with Binance focusing on maintaining platform transparency and flexibility, allowing users to sort as they wish.
Regarding negative feedback on on-chain operations, Binance will notify users, especially when high-risk projects arise. Since Binance operates entirely on-chain, it cannot shut down functions like deposits or withdrawals as CEX platforms can, so it mainly relies on a warning mechanism to alert users. As for feedback channels, Binance is considering establishing Telegram groups to facilitate timely user feedback and ensure prompt responses to project risks.
Q: Binance Wallet positions itself as the largest airdrop platform; what is its core idea? How does Binance Wallet help newcomers lower the threshold for on-chain interactions, or what are its advantages and insights as an airdrop distribution platform?
Winson: The strategy of Binance Wallet is not solely focused on becoming the largest airdrop platform. While the airdrop platform is an important means for Binance Wallet, it is not the only core strategy. The platform's goal is to bridge users and project parties, capturing user value through the airdrop platform while helping achieve a win-win for both sides. The airdrop platform is positioned to provide users with a convenient airdrop participation experience, rather than merely being a distribution platform.
Binance Wallet has already made significant optimizations to lower the threshold for new users in on-chain interactions. The focus is on the following aspects:
Guided Experience: To provide users with a nanny-level tutorial, guiding them through each step.
Airdrop Management: Helping users manage airdrop earnings through the Reward Center function, avoiding manual management and enhancing user experience.
User Lifecycle Management: From project release to airdrop collection, and then to earnings management, providing a one-stop solution, minimizing user operations, and leaving the rest to the platform.
Through these optimizations, Binance Wallet strives to simplify the user participation process and enhance user experience.
From the perspective of project parties, Binance Wallet is not only an airdrop platform but also a precision marketing platform. Project parties can use Binance Wallet to ensure that airdrop tokens are distributed to the target user group, which is also the direction for the future product iterations of Binance Wallet.
Q: How does Binance Wallet define its own growth? What experiences and lessons has Binance Wallet learned during its past development?
He Yi: The definition of Binance Wallet's growth is not only the expansion of a wallet platform but also as an important entry point into the entire Web3 ecosystem. The goal of Binance Wallet is to become a convenient gateway for users to deposit fiat, register, complete KYC, and perform on-chain operations. Its core idea is to simplify the operational process and provide a smooth cross-platform experience, enabling users to complete on-chain operations or invest through centralized exchanges (CEX) seamlessly.
Binance Wallet positions itself as the gateway to Web3, helping users understand hot topics in the crypto world and eliminating the boundaries between blockchain and traditional finance. Whether users choose to interact on-chain or invest on CEX, Binance Wallet hopes to provide the simplest solutions to enhance user experience.
During the growth process of Binance Wallet, the biggest lessons learned mainly focus on the following points:
Insufficient Talent Reserve: In the past, Binance Wallet lacked adequate reserves in Web3 technology, primarily leaning towards a Web2 operational model. Although it could operate efficiently, it still faced shortcomings in deeply understanding and applying Web3 technology. This is an important point of reflection, and Binance hopes to attract more professionals to join and promote the further development of the platform.
The Detours Taken: Binance has faced challenges on compliance and technical levels. For example, it has encountered difficulties and setbacks during the use of Compass and the compliance and licensing application process, especially concerning solutions in Web3 technology, where some mistakes occurred. Through these experiences, Binance has placed greater emphasis on compliance and made large-scale investments and adjustments.
The Transition to Web3: Binance is gradually transitioning from a traditional Web2 platform to Web3, a process that is not easy. Although the company's operational model was very successful in the Web2 environment, the thinking and technical requirements for Web3 are different, and Binance has certain technical shortcomings in this area. These detours have helped the team understand that to truly become an industry leader, breakthroughs in Web3 technology and thinking are necessary.
