It has been a rough year for cryptocurrencies. Valuations are down 80% and more in some quarters, and critics are claiming that a funeral may be in order. But not everyone has these same feelings. CEOs of many large concerns, both within and without the crypto universe, have spoken out about the long-term viability of digital currencies and the innovative benefits of blockchain technology. The latest optimistic speaker is the CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). In a recent interview with Bloomberg, CZ expressed his confidence in the industry and that he has no worries going forward.
Zhao is the founder and CEO of Binance, a Singapore fiat currency exchange that, by volume, is the largest crypto exchange on the planet. The 24-hour trading volume within Binance recently stood at USD 1.1 billion. Zhao also has his entire investment portfolio in crypto assets, which were valued at over $2 billion earlier this year, but he has not strayed from his path, nor does he regret any losses that he has sustained. He is in cryptos for the long haul, which he claims will be bright and prosperous in the future.
The last two years have witnessed the entry of both futures trading, along with traditional investors jumping over one another into the crypto space, which gave birth to the term “FOMO” (Fear (Of Missing Out). Zhao thinks more long-term:
I think people in the industry are still very confident about the future. So, there’s no worries about that. There will always be speculation, which will cause the price to fluctuate… Last year, it fluctuated upwards too much, and now we are in a correction phase. But the long-term industry is sustained by real applications and real use cases of cryptocurrency, and a lot of people are building. So, that’s happening regardless where the price moves.
During the Bloomberg interview, he also made these points:
- “None of our plans changed. We are still pushing forward, very aggressively”;
- Binance “will roll out ten more fiat-crypto exchanges as well as the company’s first decentralized exchange (DEX.)”
- “Binance welcomes regulatory involvement within the cryptocurrency space from all governments around the world, as long as there is sufficient clarity to combat the present uncertainty.”
- In CZ’s opinion, good and sensible regulations will promote rather than hamper innovation.
- “2018 has been a tough year in terms of pricing for the cryptocurrency. And we see a lot of projects not making it this year, so it’s a correction year. But technology will stay, and we wanna kick off 2019 with a bang.”
Zhao is not the only CEO of an exchange to speak out about the bright potential of cryptocurrencies. His words are reminiscent of those of Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Coinbase, a US-based cryptocurrency exchange. Last June, Armstrong said to his staff: “I want to encourage you all to ignore the price of crypto and the headlines which will inevitably start to come up. Our job is to rise above that, finding our own intrinsic source of motivation, to come in and do our best work, regardless of what other people think.”