Thoughts on Binance CEO "CZ" stepping down

Hi frens,

Lots of things happened recently. Open AI fired Sam Altman and brought him back within 5 days. Binance, the largest crypto CEX by volume, CEO “CZ” stepped down.

In this world of polarization…

There are lots of crypto KOLs praising what CZ has done for the crypto industry, emphasizing the irrelevant info (only to compare with FTX) that Binance DO NOT misappropriated any user funds or engaged in any market manipulation (source).

On the other hand, U.S. Department of Justice announced “Binance and CEO Plead Guilty to Federal Charges in $4B Resolution” (which does not look good at all), and Coinbase CEO celebrated the success of their long-term view of embracing compliance.

What’s behind the heroes?

“People like symbols”, or heroes, I get it, in order to support some movements.

From my perspectives, cryptocurrency started as some experiments, like complementary currency (not fiat anyway) or electronic cash system. Currency works as long as people use it for exchanging values.

After the rise of Bitcoin and Ethereum, various experiments flood the space, with investors (or Degens) seeking returns, economists (or Regens) building a sustainable future, bankers for stablecoin, engineers for smart contract (or Dapp developers), etc.

Let me quote a conversation in 1995, slightly modified for 2023:

J: The Web3 is incredibly exciting because it is the fulfilment of a lot of our dreams that the blockchain would ultimately not be primarily for currencies but metamorphosize into a platform for communication. And with the Web3, that’s finally happening. And secondly, it’s exciting because Binance doesn’t own it, and therefore, there’s a tremendous amount of innovation happening. So I think that the Web3 is going to be profound in what it does to our society.

C: It’s obvious once it happens, but five years ago, who would have guessed?

J: Right. That’s right. Isn’t this a wonderful place we live in?

Your friend,

Denken