At the recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) conference, Changpeng Zhao, the visionary founder and CEO of Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, shared his vision of the current state and potential future of the fast-growing blockchain industry insights.
Zhao candidly admits that he lacks a vision for which areas within the crypto space may dominate or pique the greatest interest in the future.
Under Zhao’s stewardship, Binance has been an important catalyst for the mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies, ushering millions into the new realm of crypto trading platforms. Its centralized exchange (CEX) provides a robust, user-friendly infrastructure, thereby facilitating greater participation of individuals in this nascent industry.
While maintaining admiration for the role CEX has played in the past, Zhao perceptively emphasized the importance of exploring and investing in a wide range of blockchain applications.
“Although CEXs have played an important role in the adoption of cryptocurrencies, we cannot limit ourselves to familiar territory,” Zhao said. “The very nature of blockchain lies in its limitless potential, and Binance intends to stay at the forefront of this technological revolution by expanding its horizons and investing in promising new areas.”
One of Zhao’s key areas of focus is decentralized finance (DeFi). With the promise of financial democratization, DeFi has risen rapidly in the past few years. Zhao affirmed Binance’s commitment to further investing in this innovative space.
“The appeal of DeFi is undeniable. Its ability to transform traditional finance has been proven time and time again. We at Binance see huge potential here and are committed to expanding our investments in this space,” Zhao revealed.
Beyond DeFi, Zhao expressed enthusiasm for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), acknowledging the challenges to their current utility but remaining optimistic about their future. “Considering that use cases for NFTs are largely limited to digital art transactions, their current status seems challenging,” Zhao noted. “However, I hope we can unlock more practical and generally applicable use cases for NFTs.”
He urged the cryptocurrency community to think creatively and develop NFT applications beyond digital art, promoting their adoption in wider areas such as gaming and e-commerce. Zhao believes this approach will help NFTs gain more mainstream acceptance, and Binance is keen to provide the support necessary to make this vision a reality.
