India Will Be A Natural Frontrunner For Web3 Startups: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao

Whether it is the last 24-hour trade volume or weekly visits, the largest exchange in the world in terms of daily trading, Binance scores $16 Bn, and 22 Mn, almost 7x and 9x more than the world’s number two exchange Coinbase with that of $2.3 Bn and 2.4 Mn correspondingly.

As the web3, NFT, DeFi, gaming and metaverse projects have witnessed an exponential rise with tokens taking a backseat as an essential commodity to participate in these projects, Binance is now promoting itself as a blockchain and crypto infrastructure provider.

In an interaction with Inc42, founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, Binance said that India will be fundamentally important in the crypto narrative.

“India is a huge market, as well as a leader in technology, and therefore will be a natural frontrunner for Web 3.0 startups,” Zhao said.

In terms of India, in 2019, Binance had acquired the Indian crypto exchange WazirX. The acquisition provided an option for users to buy and sell crypto with Indian rupees (INR) on the Binance Fiat Gateway. Besides being in a continuous trouble with Indian regulatory bodies, Binance remains bullish on Indian Web3 startups and the opportunity the market offers.

Inc42 caught up with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao to know more about the competition, the criticism it faces over operational transparency, metaverse and more..

Read the edited excerpts.

Inc42: By the time Binance was launched in 2017, there were established giants like Bitfinex, Coinbase and more. How did Binance beat the competition in such a short period of time?

Changpeng Zhao: We put our users first and have done so from the start. From the outset, we have offered high volume, low fees and efficient customer service.  Our platform is also user friendly, as financial inclusion is critical to us. We have continued to improve our product offering.

We are no longer just an exchange – we are now the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider.

Inc42: There has been a lot of criticism over Binance’s operational transparency and legal compliance issues. Tell us about the key measures taken to fix them.

Changpeng Zhao: Binance has been collaborating with regulators and government agencies across the globe to create a sustainable ecosystem for market participants. Some of our recent updates in this relation include the release of 10 Fundamental Rights for Crypto Users, combating against ransomware and fraud, and the implementation of a law enforcement request system.

I’m also proud to say that we’ve grown our international compliance team and advisory board by 500% last year alone.

We recently got crypto exchange licenses in Dubai and Bahrain, demonstrating our commitment to regulatory compliance. We understand the importance of regulation and we look forward to growing the industry in a responsible way.

We are transparent with our users.

Inc42: Everyone is defining the big picture of web3 and metaverse in their own way. What’s your assessment in this regard? How is it going to change the internet and daily lifestyle?

Changpeng Zhao: The future will be created by entrepreneurs. It’s very difficult to foresee in precise detail. Before Facebook, people probably won’t imagine social media exactly as Facebook, otherwise they would have created it. But the rough direction is predictable. We are committed to supporting the future of web3 and the metaverse.

We believe that blockchain technology will be the underlying technology that powers the future of the internet and our digital lives.

Web3 and the metaverse will create more financial freedom, transparency, secure information delivery and other unique experiences. Our early investment in Matic underpins our commitment to building this new ecosystem.

Inc42: Lately, questions have also been raised regarding the decentralisation quotient of web3 projects. What is your view here? Do VCs control these projects too?

Changpeng Zhao: This is a fascinating topic and currently there is a diverse set of views. The tokenomics of web3 are much more fluid and accessible by users and the general public compared to equity in traditional web2 companies. So overall, I think that web3 will be much more user-powered and user-owned compared to web2.

As to exactly how decentralised web3 will be, there are multiple forces at play here. If the current financial system becomes less restrictive, more freedom driven, low cost, and less inflation, then there is less incentive for users to move to decentralisation. However, if more and more restrictions are put into the existing financial systems, then users will move to more decentralised technologies.

I believe that India will be fundamentally important in the crypto narrative.

India is a huge market, as well as a leader in technology, and therefore will be a natural frontrunner for web 3.0 startups. We are looking forward to working with outstanding startups in India.

Inc42: Lately, we have seen the rise of projects like Polygon, Polkadot, Solana, Tezos, Cosmos, Fantom and more. Which project would you like to put your bet on? And, why?

Changpeng Zhao: I do not give out financial advice. What I can say is that I am personally a holder of Bitcoin and BNB. As an exchange, we remain neutral and support all strong projects in our ecosystem.