Today marks Binance’s sixth anniversary. To mark the occasion, the founder and CEO of the world’s largest exchange Changpeng Zhao (CZ), has reflected on a number of moments in the platform’s history.

The company’s chief executive said in a statement that Binance began operations in 2017 as a crypto-to-crypto exchange supporting five currencies and two languages, with digital assets valued at $15 million. They had to borrow a customer service crew from a friend of CZ’s who already had one.

Sailed Thru Crypto Winters

When China outlawed cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings (ICOs) only two months after Binance launched, several ICO ventures had to refund backers. It cost Binance $6 million (or 40% of its cash on hand at the time), the greatest one-time expense in the company’s history, percentage-wise.

Binance quickly surpassed its competitors to become the largest cryptocurrency trading platform by volume, and it has maintained that position through two crypto winters, during which many businesses and organizations, including competitor exchange FTX, and other firms went out of business.

With such little exposure to FTX and Terra’s LUNA, Binance was able to weather the storm of the 2022 crypto winter without suffering any significant losses. The company had even pledged to save other businesses, including Voyager and FTX, but those plans ultimately failed. It’s “not unexpected,” CZ said, given the events of 2022 and Binance’s magnitude that the exchange is now under regulatory inspection.

Binance is the cryptocurrency exchange that authorities focus on the most. The issue is proportional. The CEO emphasized the need of taking the initiative and collaborating with authorities throughout the globe to advance the sector.

CZ added:

“Again, it won’t be all smooth sailing, but we will always do what we think is in users’ best interests. We will continue collaborating with regulators. We will also defend what we believe is right, even if we have to do it in court, to continuously protect our users and push for the benefit of the industry.”

Banking on DeFi

The exchange has evolved into a worldwide infrastructure, connecting over 140 million individuals to the financial system. Binance now has thousands of staff and supports over 600 different tokens in over 40 different languages. From decentralized exchange to storage applications, the BNB chain is now powering it all.

Meanwhile, CZ thinks that the participation of conventional finance heavyweights like BlackRock and Citadel in the cryptocurrency market is proof that the technology behind cryptocurrencies is sound. He also predicts that during the next half-decade, decentralized finance would surpass their centralized counterparts.

Binance is proud of its 17 country registrations and licenses, which attest to the company’s pro-regulation position and the substantial work it has done in the area of compliance and regulation.

Users now have more options for safely storing their crypto money thanks to improvements in wallet technology. There will be a rise in the number of individuals using DeFi devices and operating on blockchains manually. This also provides consumers with access to financial services in areas where TradFi and traditional banks are yet to expand. CZ is certain that during the next six years, DeFi will surpass CeFi.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ July 14, 2023 6:14 pm