Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao says the cryptocurrency market has a bright outlook despite losing over 80% of its value this year.
Speaking on Bloomberg Daybreak: Middle East, CZ says,
“2018 has been a tough year in terms of the pricing for cryptocurrency and I think we see a lot of projects not making it this year, so it’s a correction year.”
Despite the price plunge, CZ says people in the industry are still very confident about the future due to the many developments being made in the space.
Says CZ,
“The industry is going to grow by the builders. The guys who actually build applications.”
“Long term, industry is sustained by real applications, real use cases of cryptocurrency, which a lot of people are building. So that’s happening regardless of where the price moves.”
Binance is planning to release over 10 new fiat-to-crypto exchanges in 2019, with two or three of them set to launch over the next few months. The company also plans on rolling out their first decentralized exchange (DEX) in early 2019.
CZ also says Binance welcomes regulatory involvement as they execute their roadmap and make their platforms safe and secure. Regulatory branches such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have been maneuvering throughout the year, exploring blockchain and digital currencies and handing out hefty fines as they try to find the sweet spot that allows innovators to innovate and regulators to protect consumers against fraudsters, scammers and manipulators.
Says CZ,
“We want clarity, but we also want good, sensible regulations. We want regulations that promote innovation and not things that totally hamper innovation.”
“…there’s still too much uncertainty in many countries in the world regarding regulations around the cryptocurrency industry.”
While CZ acknowledges that the current market downturn has taken a huge bite out of his own portfolio, which is comprised solely of crypto assets once valued at around $2 billion, he says the downturn has had no impact on his company’s expansion strategy. Separating the fundamentals of the technology from the market cycles and speculators, he believes the industry is due for a major rebound.
“We’re still pushing forward very aggressively.”