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Despite a crypto crash that has seen Bitcoin tumble over 70% from $69,000 to its current value of around $20,000, Binance CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao argued that cryptocurrency is "probably the only stable thing in this very dynamic environment."
Speaking on stage at Web Summit in Lisbon, Zhao argued that while crypto prices are volatile, "if you look at the technology, if if you look at the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies, limited supply, nothing has changed."
He added that, "It has been the most stable thing, technology-wise, in this turmoil situation."
💸 @cz_binance, the CEO of @binance, took to Centre Stage to share an alternative view of the stability of this crypto winter. pic.twitter.com/HqANBCKYNj
— Web Summit (@WebSummit) November 1, 2022
Zhao also discussed the current state of crypto regulation in the wake of Binance's push to secure licenses in countries including France, Spain Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. Describing regulators in those territories as "smart," CZ added that, "Actually, the U.S. regulators are pretty good," singling out the level of banking support for crypto exchanges in the country.
Using the automated clearing house protocol, he said, crypto exchanges in the U.S. "can deduct money from the user's bank account automatically each month without user intervention. Other parts of the world, we don't get that level of banking support just yet."
He conceded, however, that U.S. regulators are "more restrictive on the product offerings like derivatives," adding that, "Very few people have licences."
As to Binance's $500 million investment in Elon Musk's takeover of social media site Twitter, Zhao claimed that it was done in the name of freedom of speech.
"We want to be extremely supportive of free speech," he said, adding that Binance's goal is "helping to increase the freedom of money. And free speech comes before freedom of money."
He conceded that, "Elon Musk is probably a pretty hard guy for me to predict," noting that he learned of Musk's plan to introduce an $8 monthly fee for Twitter verification, "at the same time as you did, which is only like 20 minutes ago."
"I fully expect that with Elon in charge, the speed of new features rolling out will be much, much faster," Zhao added, while cautioning that, "Not all of them will stick."
"I would actually say probably the majority of them will not stick," he said. "But that's how you figure out the rest of the 10% of the features that will stick; by defining a lot of new features."
On the subject of whether the much-anticipated integration of Dogecoin into the platform is one of the features that will stick—or whether it will reach the stage of being thrown at the wall in the first place—CZ was silent.
