Recently, Binance has reached over 200 million registered users and held an AMA to address some pressing issues. Co-founder of Binance, He Yi, answered questions regarding recent incidents of market manipulation, conflicts with listing high FDV projects, and the standards for delisting inactive coins. He mentioned that he emails CZ daily and spends his time working out, making phone calls (conference calls), and putting his kids to sleep, which he finds quite mundane. He humorously mentioned “Girlfriend Coin,” indicating Binance’s attempt to introduce normal business models which may face ridicule and failures.
He Yi emphasized that security is an ongoing process and highlighted Binance’s efforts to enhance security standards to protect user assets. He discussed the challenges of the blockchain industry and the need for projects with viable business models rather than just concepts. He mentioned the importance of selecting projects for Launchpool and MegaDrop based on their potential for long-term success and user benefits. Additionally, he addressed the criteria for delisting inactive coins and the management of such tokens.
He expressed his passion for continuous self-improvement and the desire to leave a lasting impact on the world. He shared his goal of building a sustainable and successful organization like Duan Yongping did in China. He also discussed the importance of finding quality projects and adjusting selection criteria based on market feedback to ensure healthy growth and long-term success.Some “shell” projects on Binance can be purchased, as these projects may be delisted at any time. We strongly oppose this shell-buying behavior and will directly close projects once discovered.
How should we view the market value comparison with Coinbase? Where is the growth potential for BNB?
He Yi: First of all, I believe that Coinbase is essentially a stock security, while BNB is a token, and the two are not in the same lane. Coinbase’s stocks cannot be used on the Binance platform like BNB. BNB not only has Binance’s application scenarios and a continuous burning mechanism but also the blessing of BNBChain.
BNB’s extensive use on the Binance platform, known as the “golden shovel,” can be used for a large number of fee deductions. Although the momentum of BNB Chain is not as strong as some large L2, L1 ecosystems, or TON’s user base at the moment, compared to developer-centric public chains like Ethereum or Solana, BNBChain has more real Web3 users and builders.
I believe that a crucial direction for the future of BNBChain is to bring blockchain technology into the lives of ordinary people, helping more entrepreneurs and developers drive the entire blockchain industry into the next stage. From this perspective, Coinbase and Binance are taking completely different paths. Coinbase is an excellent trading platform that achieves profitability through cooperation with Circle, but Binance is taking a different path in the blockchain track.
In the process of launching many projects, Binance empowers BNB through continuous benefits and airdrops. Short-term price fluctuations do not necessarily represent anything, and we are more concerned about the team’s long-term efforts and goals. Building BNB Chain and the entire community requires the joint efforts of users, communities, entrepreneurs, and developers.
What tracks to focus on, how to view AI? How do you spend your day?
He Yi: Let me answer the question about AI first. Actually, I also talked about my understanding of AI in the last AMA. I believe that blockchain changes labor relations, distributes benefits, while AI is a significant revolution in productivity. For example, many trading platforms and products are in a multilingual environment. If AI can be well utilized, it can save a lot of translation costs while improving efficiency. This is a specific example of productivity improvement. In the future, the productivity improvement of AI will be reflected in many more aspects, including design, marketing, etc., with lower costs and higher efficiency.
AI can be divided into several modules. The application side is the most common, such as OpenAI’s chatbot, which can help write plans, design, make videos, etc. Moving up is the large model team, which is not large in scale but has strong professional capabilities. Going further up is computing power, which is why NVIDIA’s stock performance is so strong. NVIDIA’s leading position in chips makes it difficult for other competitors to reach. Technological advances make computing power upgrades more significant.
Energy and data are two key industries supporting the development of AI. Global wars and political struggles often revolve around energy, and the future development of AI also cannot do without the support of energy. Data is another critical factor, with companies that have access to a large amount of user data having an advantage in AI development.
We at Binance are also looking for good AI solutions. For example, the Greenfield product launched by BNB Chain before uses data through a privacy protection network to ensure user privacy. This is our attempt to combine blockchain and AI.
Regarding the choice of tracks, I think as a business person, it is necessary to keep an eye on and think about various emerging tracks. No matter what track it is, as long as it is helpful to society and has good products and services, it is a viable business.
My daily life is actually very simple. I work out three times a week, usually in the morning, and then I have a day full of phone meetings. My goal is to cultivate a leadership team and build a strong leadership presence in the entire industry. Apart from meetings, I spend a lot of time researching organization and management, communicating with HR personnel. Recently, I have also added the task of writing emails to CZ, reporting work, sharing life experiences, etc. My life is simple, from morning to night it is all about work, exercise, spending time with family, and reading. That’s how my day goes.
What considerations does Binance have for stablecoins? How will they develop in the future?
He Yi: Our logic for stablecoins is straightforward. Although we cannot accept all stablecoins, we hope that this will be a continuous competition. In the past, BUSD was created through cooperation with third parties, and for us, whether it’s TUSD, FDUSD, or more stablecoins in the future, we welcome cooperation. The key is whether the qualifications and capabilities of the partners match and whether we can come to an agreement. We are very optimistic about the stablecoin track, but to operate this well, we need the right timing, location, and people, not just establishing a stablecoin account to accept funds.
After surpassing two billion users, where might the new user increment for Binance come from? First, it should be clarified that registered users are not the same as active users, as some registered users may not have any trading or deposit activities. To reach a larger market scale, there needs to be more high-quality assets. If the industry is stagnant, it is due to a lack of high-quality assets, which involves bridging the gap. Our task and consideration are how to bridge this gap, making blockchain as user-friendly as the internet or AI, enabling ordinary people to use it directly. As long as this gap is bridged, having a user base ten or twenty times larger is not a problem.
I firmly believe that as long as the crypto industry can introduce grounded and high-quality assets, the market scale can expand fivefold or even more. Each cycle will see new applications and companies emerging, with companies that persist and create value for the world becoming industry leaders. Just like the top companies after the dot-com bubble, such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc., they continue to create value, becoming the top companies globally. We also hope to see this continuous growth and development in the blockchain field.
After surpassing 2 billion users, what plans and strategies does Binance have to bring in more outsiders to the industry?
He Yi: After surpassing 2 billion users, what plans and strategies does Binance have to bring in more outsiders to the industry?
In fact, Binance has always been making such attempts. Whether from a marketing perspective, through our academy, charity projects, or even in the listing of projects, we have made some attempts. We have also received some negative feedback. For example, you may know that we previously signed The Weeknd, and later we also signed C Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo has 600 million followers on Instagram, and his daily likes often reach several million or even tens of millions. We hope to make more people aware of Binance and cryptocurrency through these celebrity effects.
In addition, we hope that users who register on Binance will take the time to understand cryptocurrency, rather than blindly following investments. Even if it is investing in meme coins, an understanding of its essence and cycles is necessary to avoid impulsive actions. Our logic is that not all projects listed on Binance are of very high quality, sometimes it is due to user demand. We will first put some projects in the contract market, allowing users to choose to go long or short. If unsure about the long-term popularity of a project, it will first be placed in the contract market, where users can choose one or two times leverage.
We have also made some mistakes. For example, the Hook project was ridiculed as the “girlfriend coin,” and many people questioned whether the users of this project were fake or purchased. After studying their users carefully, it is indeed not typical crypto users but those who acquire rewards through registration and completing tasks, such as motorcycles, rice cookers, etc. These users are not typical crypto investors.
We have recently cooperated with some Web3 project parties for cross-game collaboration, attracting 1.3 million users, but only 56 of them became trading users because they mainly came for freebies. In this process, some may question why we are listing these projects, but we hope to find applications and business models that can change the lives of ordinary people through these attempts.
Additionally, the Binance Academy and charity projects are also taking on more industry responsibility and influence. Although sometimes the inputs do not always yield results, at least more people see Binance and cryptocurrency. Signing Cristiano Ronaldo may not have brought a significant number of registered users and trading users, but at least more people are aware of Binance.
The crypto industry has a lot of negative information and biases, but we will continue to push the industry forward firmly, guiding more outsiders to join. Even in this process, enduring some ridicule and failures, as long as the goal is clear, we will continue to move forward.
In the aftermath of the regulatory settlement in the United States, how will Binance’s development in Europe or other regions be affected?
He Yi: After the regulatory settlement in the United States, Binance’s development in Europe or other regions may be somewhat affected. As you may have seen, one of our executives had trouble in Nigeria. From a regulatory perspective, traditional finance has a history of hundreds of years, and the regulatory system has been gradually established. Therefore, when they see something new like Crypto, claiming to overturn traditional finance, it is naturally seen as a threat. In this situation, as a leading company in the industry, we will face more pressure and challenges.
Many people believe that DeFi can solve all problems, but in reality, the development of the internet also went through a similar stage. Although information freedom is essential, the internet is still under the observation and regulation of governments worldwide. The blockchain industry will also face similar challenges. If it becomes completely decentralized, regulatory authorities, especially in the United States, will take strong measures to crack down on DeFi, and they will not go easy on the CeFi part either. This is why CZ is currently in the United States.
If we want this industry to serve 1 billion users, to drive the industry forward, we must resolve with regulatory agencies, build consensus and trust, and find a way to survive. When the industry scale is large enough, it must demonstrate its positive impact, how it complements the existing financial system, improves efficiency, and achieves peaceful coexistence. This is the direction we are thinking and moving forward in.
In this process, we will encounter some challenges, such as not being able to provide contract trading in certain regions. In addition, the compliance team’s scale will become very large, with many decisions requiring the approval of the compliance and legal teams. But as long as the organization itself is strong and the strategy is correct, these phased challenges will not affect the long-term goal. Overall, we are still seeking coexistence.
Coinbase also strongly supports embracing regulation. We may be the first exchange globally to actively embrace regulation, especially doing well in the United States. In fact, all competitors in the market, such as Coinbase, OK, Huobi, Bybit, Bitget, Bitmex, etc., have gone through many cycles to reach where they are today, with many lessons worth learning. This industry is still in its very early stages and requires joint efforts to expand the pie.