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00:00THE 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.

Binance CEO on Cryptocurrencies Outlook

Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive officer of Binance, discusses his outlook for crypto markets. He speaks with Haslinda Amin on the sidelines of Bloomberg's New Economy Forum in Singapore.

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