By
Steve Muchoki
April 18th, 2024
The cryptocurrency exchange plans to open at least two fiat-to-crypto trading platforms in each continent in next one year slowly shifting towards having a completely decentralized exchange.
At the CoinDesk’s Consensus Singapore event, Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng discussed a range of topics including Binance’s future expansion plans. Zhao talked candidly about Binance’s journey from a startup raising $15 million through ICO to becoming one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform.
Zhao talked about his future vision for Binance saying that he wants to establish a fiat-to-crypto trading platform on every continent. Setting up an aggressive target for himself, Zhao said that by this time next year, he plans to launch at least 5-10 fiat-to-crypto exchanges, with ideally two on each continent.
However, Zhao’s plans seem to be in contrast with Binance’s earlier proposal of having an only crypto-to-crypto trading platform. Zhao admitted the fact that the crypto market is still very small in comparison to the traditional financial market. He said:
“Fiat is still where all the money is in. … And we’ve got to open that gate.”
Working With Regulators is a Big Challenge
Zhao said that one of the biggest challenges is working with banks and regulators. Hence, Binance plans to make entry initially in smaller countries while making partnerships with nations like Malta. Zhao said that the authorities in such countries tend to respond in a much positive manner.
He said:
“You can access to the top-level government officials and they respond to your questions more directly and efficiently. And they do appreciate the investment you are bringing into the local economy.”
Zhao said that in the long-term, as the cryptocurrency matures, the company plans to shift towards a completely decentralized exchange. Last month in August, Zhao released a sneak-peek into the progress done so far for Binance Chain, which is the name of the company’s decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. The CEO also lauded his developers’ efforts for delivering results ahead of schedule.
Zhao also confirmed that the exchange clocked $200 million in profits during the Q1 2018. However, all these profits were in cryptos. During Q2 2018, as a result of the market drop, the profits declined to $150 million.
He also said that luck had played a crucial role in Binance’s success so far with the “right thing at the right time.” Just when the platform went online last year, Chinese authorities introduced a country-wide blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading. As a result, Binance had to shift its base before finding a safe haven in Malta. “Sometimes negative things could turn out to be positive in the long term if you leverage it right,” he said.
Not Everything Going the Binance Way
New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood has recently released a report referring to exchanges vulnerable to market manipulations. The three exchanges referred are Binance, Gate.io and Kraken. These three exchanges also face charges of violating New York’s digital currency regulations.
The concerns raised are regarding several operations like internal controls, security, market surveillance protocols, and other investor and consumer protections.
“The OAG could not review the practices and procedures of non-participating platforms (Binance, Gate.io, Huobi, and Kraken) concerning manipulative or abusive trading,” reads an excerpt from the report.