CZ is free, Binance moves on

Original｜Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )

Author: CryptoLeo ( @LeoAndCrypto )

On September 27, local time in the United States, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and former CEO of Binance, the worlds leading crypto trading platform, completed his four-month sentence and was officially released from prison. Subsequently, CZ posted his first tweet after his release, GM, on the social media platform X.

The next day, CZ once again published a short article to thank everyone for their support, saying that his education platform Giggle Academy is progressing smoothly, and that he will devote more time and money to charity (and education) in the future. Blockchain/decentralized technology, AI, and biotechnology are still his main focuses. In addition, CZ said that he is still writing a book of his own, and has completed about 2/3 of it. At the end of the article, CZ mentioned Binance, saying that Binance has developed smoothly without his interference, which is very good and is the dream of every founder.

Affected by CZs release from prison, BNB has seen an increase in the past two weeks, from $527 to $618, a 17% increase in two weeks.

Previously, Vishal Sacheendran, the current regional director of Binance, said in an interview: “CZ will not participate in any decision-making of Binance. Despite this, CZ is still the largest shareholder of Binance, owning about 90% of the shares.”

So after being released from prison and stepping down as Binance CEO, where will CZ go in the future?

1. Identity changes, original intention remains the same, CZs Crypto Mass Adoption

By reviewing CZ’s speeches and actions over the past two years, we can see that the original intention of this exchange founder has always been “Crypto Mass Adoption” and creating a good product for crypto users.

(1) Crypto exchange builders

According to the letter from He Yizhi to the US judge, What is a more realistic Zhao Changpeng?, CZ himself is a person who is passionate about the blockchain and encryption industry. For the smooth operation of Binance, he chose to take the initiative to fly to the United States to plead guilty, take the responsibility for his crimes, and make Binance a success. In the early days of Binance, CZ insisted on helping users maintain the security of their funds and had a strong sense of mission and responsibility for the industry.

At the end of 2022, the crypto industry encountered a major setback. CZ published an open letter with the theme of 2022, Resilience is King, stating that for Binance and the entire crypto industry, after projects such as Celsius, Voyager, and FTX went bankrupt one after another, the crypto industry should learn to reflect.

The article mentioned that in the context of project collapse and increasingly stringent supervision, many people compare crypto with the former Internet bubble, but in terms of crypto popularity and compliance, Binance and the entire industry have shown strong resilience.

At the end of 2022, Binance has 7,500 employees from more than 100 countries, serving more than 120 million users worldwide, and is committed to building a bridge between the world of crypto assets and traditional finance. For example, Binance C2C business provides more than 100 fiat-to-crypto asset transactions, Binance Labs has also invested more than $500 million in potential blockchain innovation projects, and Binance has donated more than $20 million in assets to non-profit organizations around the world. The most important thing is Binances efforts in compliance and transparency. As of the end of 2022, Binance has obtained operating licenses and registration permits in 14 countries or regions on five continents. In terms of asset transparency, Binance has also launched a Transparency Action Plan that includes public wallet addresses and verification of user assets through mechanisms such as Merkle trees.

It can be said that at that time Binance made great efforts to cooperate with regulatory policies, protect user assets, and regain the trust of the industry.

On April 30, 2023, in the Seattle Federal Court of the United States, CZ officially accepted the verdict and was sentenced to 4 months in prison for violating anti-money laundering laws.

In June 2023, CZ issued a letter to all employees, which involved some evidence in the case between Binance and the SEC. CZ said that Binance always adheres to high ethical standards and spares no effort to protect users. Even in difficult times in the industry, it is still quietly building user-centric products.

In November 2023, CZ announced his resignation as CEO of Binance, and Richard Teng took over as CEO of Binance. The CZ era of Binance officially came to an end.

(2) Founder of the education platform

While CZ was in the midst of litigation, he did not stop his pace of industry construction.

Before the verdict, on March 19, 2024, CZ announced on the X platform that he would launch his new project Giggle Academy, offering free education programs to everyone to make education more gamified.

According to the official website, Giggle Academy is a blockchain-based education platform that mainly cultivates childrens learning habits by gamifying early education, turning education into a learning game. Students education credentials are displayed through NFT, Badge, Points, Ranking, etc. There will be no traditional degree certification after graduation, but self-certification through Giggle points, Levels and Badges (SBT). Certified students can seek jobs (Job Market, the projects built-in recruitment market). With the students personal permission, potential employers can easily verify the students professional level on the chain. If the project develops smoothly in the future, degree certificates will become NFTs, and the talent market will become an NFT liquidity market, and the connection between the education industry and the blockchain will be closer.

The educational content of the platform includes familiar mathematics, literature, science, physics, biology, finance, as well as programming and art. In addition, the course education also includes emotional intelligence, negotiation, finance, blockchain, AI and other content that students cannot learn in the basic education stage.

CZ said that the project will enable more and more people to receive better education and will indirectly help solve many international problems. It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish, thus building this scalable education platform.

From the CEO of the industrys largest crypto exchange to the founder of an education platform, CZs identity has changed a lot, but he has just changed the way he contributes to the popularization and adoption of crypto: in the past, he created a cutting-edge crypto trading platform for users, and in the future, he will create a cutting-edge crypto education platform for users. Whether it is the former CEO of Binance or the founder of Giggle Academy, CZs original intention for crypto remains the same, to bring continuous growth to crypto, and enhance the education, popularization and large-scale adoption of crypto.

2. Unbinding CZ, Binance Enters a New Era

CZ is the founder of Binance, but Binance has now matured.

In the few days after CZs resignation, Binance did suffer some impact, but the on-chain data did not observe large-scale asset withdrawals, and only a very small number of users transferred assets out of Binance. In the long run, its trading volume, depth, and assets are still stable and improving, and the market still has confidence in it.

Data shows that Binances 24-hour trading volume currently remains above $13.5 billion, with a monthly visit volume of 53 million, ranking first in the exchange rankings. CoinGecko disclosed the trading volume share of the top ten cryptocurrency exchanges in the second quarter of 2024. Binances trading volume accounted for 45%, ranking first among CEXs.

This data is also inseparable from the efforts of Binance co-founder He Yi and Binances new CEO Richard Teng.

(1) Richard Teng was appointed as the new head of the company

CZ also said when he resigned as CEO of Binance: Richard is a highly qualified leader with more than three decades of financial services and regulatory experience. He will lead the company into the next stage of growth and ensure that Binance delivers on our promises in the next stage of security, transparency, compliance and growth.

Richard has over 20 years of experience working in government-related agencies. He is a developer and executor of regulatory laws and regulations and can help Binance achieve better results in cooperating with crypto regulation.

Richard Teng also announced Binance’s future priorities when he took office: “1. Assure users that they can continue to have confidence in the company’s financial strength, security, and safety; 2. Work with regulators to maintain high standards that promote innovation globally while providing important consumer protection; 3. Work with partners to promote the growth and popularity of Web3.”

After Richard Teng took office, he led the team to move forward steadily, ensuring the stable operation and continued growth of the platform. In June 2024, Binance announced that the number of users exceeded 200 million. It took Binance about five years to get the first 100 million users, and the second 100 million users took just over two years. Recently, Richard Teng wrote that in early September, Binances total historical transaction volume had exceeded 100 trillion US dollars.

These data are not only a testament to Binance’s own development, but also, to some extent, indicate that the pace of large-scale adoption of cryptocurrencies is accelerating and is gradually being accepted by mainstream society and ordinary users.

In addition, after changing its CEO, Binance has also transformed into a more decentralized company led by a board of directors. Binance has introduced three independent directors and gathered an experienced executive team to take charge of daily operations. The purpose of this transformation is to strengthen corporate governance in response to an increasingly stringent regulatory environment.

Although Binance today is different from the CZ era in terms of leadership and management structure, it still remembers its original intention and mission – to be user-centric and bring more growth to encryption.

(2) Lianchuang He Yi actively promotes various business lines

Before and after CZ was imprisoned, Binances other co-founder He Yi was as active as ever in the crypto community and actively promoted various businesses.

He Yi is a key member of Binances management team. He is involved in many aspects of Binances business and is responsible for Binances human resources department and Binance Labs. He once jokingly called himself Binances chief customer service officer. Whenever Binance is FUDed in a certain business segment or product, He Yi is always the first to step forward to resolve user doubts and appease community anxiety.

On July 12, 2024, on the occasion of Binance’s 7th anniversary, He Yi gave a detailed explanation of Binance’s future plans in an interview with the media.

Regarding Binance, He Yi said that CZ’s departure did not have a big impact on Binance’s business, and Richard Teng can play a big role in Binance’s management and embracing supervision.

On the topic of The number and speed of Binance listings will increase significantly in 2024, which is of great concern to users, He Yi explained that Binance has strict evaluation criteria for listing coins. First, the fundamentals, technology and market popularity of the project will be considered; second, whether there is investment endorsement; finally, Binance will look at the life cycle of the project and the teams capabilities. As a trading platform, Binance hopes to screen out those projects that have a relatively higher chance of success and live longer, but this does not mean that the coins on Binance will definitely rise.

Binance Labs, which He Yi is in charge of, has been in operation for more than 6 years and has invested in more than 250 blockchain innovation projects in more than 25 countries. In the future, Binance Labs will continue to invest in more blockchain technology and innovative companies.

(3) Regulatory compliance, never stopping

With CZ’s imprisonment and release, as well as Binance’s settlement with regulators, the sword of Damocles that once hung over its head has fallen and is no longer a stumbling block to Binance’s development.

Today, Binance is working hard to communicate with regulators in various countries and build trust. If this industry can establish an effective reconciliation channel with more companies and governments, it may become a part of the Internet. We hope that Web3 will become an Internet industry that serves more people, said He Yi.

Under the leadership of Richard and He Yi, Binance fully embraced regulation. In September alone, it completed two regulatory licenses. First, Binance Kazakhstan has obtained a full regulatory license officially approved by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA). It has completed the steps required to operate a full license in Kazakhstan, including a series of internal and external audits and regulatory inspections. It will be authorized to operate crypto asset trading facilities and provide a series of crypto asset-related services. Second, Binance has successfully registered as a reporting entity with the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND). It is also Binances 19th milestone in global regulation. Registration with the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit demonstrates Binances commitment to complying with anti-money laundering (AML) standards in India and other jurisdictions where it operates.

Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, said: “Our registration with the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit marks an important milestone in Binance’s journey. We recognize the vitality and potential of the Indian virtual digital asset market, and this collaboration with Indian regulators enables us to provide customized services to Indian users. We are honored to expand our leading platform into this booming market and support the continued development of the Indian virtual digital asset market.”

The two regulatory licenses are also the result of Binances efforts in regulatory compliance. At the end of 2022, Binance obtained operating licenses and registration licenses in 14 countries or regions on five continents. Today, Binance has obtained 19 regulatory licenses worldwide, becoming the CEX with the most regulatory licenses in the industry.

In terms of regulatory compliance, Binance can give users a satisfactory answer.

3. The future of Binance and CZ

If there is any connection between CZ and Binance at present, it is that he is still the largest shareholder of Binance.

As part of the settlement agreement with the United States, CZ is prohibited from holding any executive or strategic position at Binance, and cannot participate in the companys daily operations, including trading, marketing or regulation. In addition, CZ is not allowed to engage in activities directly related to cryptocurrency exchanges or trading services for a certain period of time.

However, CZ is still the largest shareholder of Binance, holding approximately 90% of Binances shares, which will have an impact on Binances important decisions to a certain extent.

“The company structure of Binance is completely different now than when CZ was the CEO, it is a board-led structure,” current Binance CEO Richard Teng said at the Korea Blockchain Week in Seoul, South Korea earlier this month. “Of course, CZ retains his shareholder rights as a shareholder, but on a day-to-day basis, I work closely with the board to develop our global strategy.”

Some people are worried that CZ might sell off a large number of cryptocurrencies, especially BNB, after he is released from prison. But there is no need to worry too much. As the founder of Binance who has been deeply involved in industry development and insisted on protecting user assets, this situation is unlikely to happen to CZ.

After being released, CZ will return to his family for a short break, and the new project he created, Giggle Academy, will be his focus in the future. In addition, CZ also mentioned that he may devote himself to the investment and research he mentioned before, become a shareholder of startups in the fields of blockchain, Web3, DeFi, AI and biotechnology, spend more time studying DeFi, or serve as a coach and mentor for a few future entrepreneurs to help them avoid entrepreneurial misunderstandings.

As He Yi said: If I were not in the crypto industry, what else would be worth my time and energy? It might be to help more people succeed. I would probably go back to investing and provide effective advice. I understand that CZ has to do education. If he doesnt do it, he will have nothing to do. He still has to find something that can help the world.

Binance will get better and better under the leadership of He Yi and Richard Teng, and CZ will also start a second spring in his career in a new field. I hope both parties are well.

This article is sourced from the internet: CZ is free, Binance moves on

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