THE BIGGEST CRYPTO EXCHANGE BINANCE HAS
PUBLISHED A LIST OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS, AS REGULATORY PRESSURE
HEATS UP.
HE IS ARGUING EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO CRYPTO TOOLS.
HE JOINS ME NOW. I HEARD FROM ONE PERSON WHO
SAID IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS, EVERY BANK WILL HAVE TO TAKE A
LOOK AT CRYPTOS. YOUR THOUGHTS?
>> ABSOLUTELY. THEY SHOULD'VE DONE THAT FOUR
YEARS AGO. ABSOLUTELY, ANY INSTITUTION,
ANY BANK, ANY PERSON SHOULD BE LOOKING AT CRYPTO, LEARN ABOUT
IT, UNDERSTAND IT. NOT LEARNING IT IS
IRRESPONSIBLE.
>> YOU CAN ONLY DO WITH THE REGULATORS ALLOW YOU TO DO.
CHINA SAYS NO WAY. SINGAPORE KEEPING AN OPEN MIND.
OTHER COUNTRIES IN BETWEEN. IN YOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH
REGULATORS, WHAT ARE THE MAIN CONCERNS AND HOW ARE YOU TRYING
TO ADDRESS THOSE?
>> DIFFERENT REGULATORS ARE APPROACHING THE SITUATION
DIFFERENTLY. I THINK CHINA STILL IS VERY
PROGRESSIVE ON BLOCKCHAIN INNOVATION.
THEY ARE HIGHLIGHTING A CENTRAL-BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY.
THEY BLOCK EVERYTHING ELSE, GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND
THEY HAVE THEIR HOMEGROWN VERSION.
THEY ARE TRYING THAT WITH CRYPTO.
IT'S NOT THAT BLOCKCHAIN'S ARE BAD. THEY ARE ADOPTING THAT
TECHNOLOGY, JUST A DIFFERENT APPROACH. THE U.S.
IS MOST ADVANCED IN TERMS OF REGULATIONS.
WE HAVE CRYPTOCURRENCIES GETTING LISTED.
SO THERE ARE DIFFERENT DEGREES OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES.
I THINK SINGAPORE IS FAIRLY PROGRESSIVE IN THEIR APPROACH.
SINGAPORE IS A OF REGULATOR, BUT WELCOMING TO INNOVATION.
WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF PROJECTS HERE.
>> THE BIG QUESTION IS WHEN WILL IT BE MAINSTREAM?
WE TALK ABOUT IT NOT BEING A LEGITIMATE ASSET YET.
WE HEARD FROM ONE PERSON WHO IS STILL LOOKING AT IT, NOT
CONVINCED YET. YOU HAVE BEEN SPEAKING TO ALL
THE PLAYERS. IS THERE A SENSE WHEN IT COULD
BE MAINSTREAM?
>> THE MAINSTREAM DEPENDS ON ADOPTION.
CRYPTO IS 5% ADOPTION GLOBALLY POPULATION WISE, SO 400 MILLION
500 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE IT. IT'S NOT A SMALL NUMBER.
SO, IT IS SIGNIFICANT.
AT 5%, WE ARE NOT SAYING IT IS MASS ADOPTION YET.
50%, 80% IS DEFINITELY MASS ADOPTION.
>> WAS? -- WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN?
>> FIVE YEARS TO 10 YEARS. WERE TALKING ABOUT BILLIONS OF
PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO LEARN ABOUT IT.
>> THE ISSUE IS VOLATILITY.
WE SAW BITCOIN SURGING WITHIN SLUMPING.
AS LONG AS VOLATILITY REMAINS, IT CANNOT BE A LEGITIMATE ASSET
CLASS, A STORE OF VALUE WITH SO MUCH RISK, ESPECIALLY RETAIL
INVESTORS PILING IN ANY HUGE WAY.
>> THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENT THINGS. VOLATILITY IS RELATIVE.
WHEN BITCOIN TO WIN BITCOIN, THE U.S. DOLLARS VOLATILE.
>> WHEN IT MOVES 50%, IT IS VOLATILE.
>> FUNDAMENTALLY, CRYPTO IS NOT JUST ONE ASSET, BITCOIN WAS
STABLE COINS, THOUSANDS, MILLIONS OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES.
SOME OF THEM HAVE STABLE PROPERTIES. SOME OF THEM DON'T.
SOME PEOPLE LIKE VOLATILITY. TRADERS SEEK VOLATILITY.
WHEN THE MARKET FLAT LINES BUT THERE IS NO ACTION.
FOR EVERYDAY USE, WE WANT A CURRENCY THAT IS RELATIVELY
STABLE. THE FIAT CURRENCIES DID NOT
HAVE STABLE PURCHASING POWER. THEY USUALLY DECREASE.
IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU WANT. BECAUSE IT IS A LITTLE
VOLATILE, IT DOES NOT MEAN IT'S NOT LEGITIMATE.
400 MILLION TO 500 MILLION PEOPLE HOLD IT AND VALUE IT.
>> THERE ARE INCREASINGLY MORE AND MORE BANKS LOOKING AT THEIR
OWN DIGITAL CURRENCY. HOW DOES THAT CHANGE THE
PLAYING FIELD? WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR BITCOIN?
IS IT DEAD?
>> NO, ANY NEW BLOCKCHAIN-BASED CURRENCY OR TOOL IS GOOD FOR
THE INDUSTRY.
IT INCREASES THE RELATIVE CREDIBILITY AND IS A VALIDATION
OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY. THEY ALSO PROVIDE A GOOD
EDUCATION CHANNEL, BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENTS ARE EDUCATING THE
MASSES ON BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY. WHEN YOU LEARN ABOUT
BLOCKCHAIN, YOU HAVE TO LEARN ABOUT BITCOIN FROM HIS OF
PEOPLE LEARN WHAT IS A BITCOIN. WHY IS IT VALUABLE?
WHY DO YOU HAVE PROPERTIES THAT LIMITED SUPPLY?
FREEDOM OF ACCESS, BLOW USE, AND LOW COST?
SO PEOPLE WILL COMPARE THE FUNDAMENT ARE PROPERTIES OF
DIFFERENT CRYPTOCURRENCIES. CENTRAL-BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES
ARE GREAT. HAVING THAT OPTION IS GOOD.
WHAT CHINA IS DOING IS NOT SO GOOD.
THEY ARE ISSUING THEIR OWN AND TRYING TO BLOCK EVERYTHING
ELSE, BUT VOTING BITCOIN IN CHINA IS PERFECTLY LEGAL.
THEY JUST DON'T WANT EXCHANGES TO OPERATE IN CHINA.
>> THERE IS SO M O MUCH INTEREST RIGHT NOW AND
BITCOIN, WHAT ARE YOU SEEING ON A DAILY BASIS?
>> THE INDUSTRY'S GETTING BIGGER.
THE USE CASES ARE GETTING MORE ADVANCE.
SO ANYONE CAN ISSUE TOKENS INTO THEIR OWN PROJECTS.
THAT IS WHAT I CALL BLOCKCHAIN FUNDRAISING GLOBALLY.
THAT IS A TOOL THAT WAS NOT AVAILABLE BEFORE
CRYPTOCURRENCIES. EVEN TODAY, YOU CAN'T DO THAT.
IT IS NOT POLICY.
IN FTS, 2021, 2020, IN FTS, NELL ARTISTS CAN MONETIZE THEIR
WORK. THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE USING A
FIAT CURRENCY.
AND WE ARE LOOKING AT GAME EFIED, DECENTRALIZED SOCIAL
MEDIA. LOOKING AT FAN TOKENS, SPORTS
TOKENS AS AN ADDITIONAL WAY TO MONETIZE THEIR WORK, SO IT
PROVIDES MANY NEW, DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS THERE WERE NOT
AVAILABLE BEFORE, EVEN TODAY. THIS IS EXCITING.
>> BINANCE, LOCAL ENTITIES LOOKING AT FUNDRAISING.
THE TIMELINE? HOW MUCH?
>> THE FINAL RACE OF BINANCE U.S., THEY RUN RELATIVELY
INDEPENDENTLY, I THINK THEY WILL COMPLETE IT IN A MONTH OR
TWO. THAT IS THE FIRST ONE. IF THAT GOES WELL, WE WILL
REPEAT THAT EXERCISE AT DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD.
>> ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HEADQUARTERS?
>> WE HAVE A FEW HEADQUARTERS. WE WILL MAKE THAT PUBLIC SOON.
>> HOW MANY CITIES?
>> THREE TO FIVE CITIES TO BEGIN WITH. NOW WE ARE MUCH MORE
CENTRALIZED. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CENTRALIZED
STRUCTURE. WE ARE MOVING BACK FROM A
DE-CENTRALIZED STRUCTURE.
>> WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU ARE THE BIGGEST, IS THAT A
BENEFIT OR A CURSE?
>> MOSTLY A BENEFIT. THERE ARE SOME NEGATIVES WITH
IT.
WE GET ALL THE ATTENTION, WHICH IS GOOD, BUT SOME OF THE
OVERALL, IT IS VERY POSITIVE.
WE HAVE TO MEDIA COVERAGE YOU GUYS ARE PROVIDING.
WE HAVE THE USE -- USER CREDIBILITY.