Head Of Binance: “Nations Will Find It Hard To Outpace China”

Changpeng Zhao, who is the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, claims that the recent endorsement of blockchain by the Chinese President will inevitably drive mass adoption of crypto. The head of Binance had an interview with Bloomberg Markets: Asia on November 15 and noted that the recent intervention by President Xi Jinping will bring a global impact. He was featured on many cryptocurrency news sites.

The President Xi Jinping had previously called this October for China to accelerate its adoption of blockchain technologies to drive innovation and industrial transformation. The head of Binance also reflected on the likely consequences of this high-profile endorsement and explicit declaration of a pro-blockchain strategy by the second largest economy in the world.

“It’s super positive. China’s very pro-technology, so China will invest very heavily in blockchain technology and on the educational front as well. Given that China has now made that move, every other country in the world will have no choice but to follow or move faster. But it’s going to be pretty hard to move faster than China to be honest,” the head of Binance noted.

Zhao also hinted at the states and their competing geopolitical aspirations to monopolize technology. He added that there is likely “going to be a race there” and saw the impact of the pro-blockchain stance going much further. He argued that the president may have confined his comments to the underlying technology, stating:

“You can’t learn just about blockchain without learning about cryptocurrencies. so I think we’ll see a lot more people who understand Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptocurrencies. So we’ll see very strong adoption there.”

When asked about Binance China and its strategy, the head of Binance struck an implicit note of caution and talked about the Binance news story from 2017 when the exchange relocated its headquarters to the island of Malta.

‘We want to follow the recommendations very closely and to promote blockchain technology research and development. We’re looking at a number of initiatives in that area. We want to help wherever we can,” he said.

In September 2018, Binance made its first strategic Chinese investment and participated in a $200 million funding round for a Beijing-based crypto and blockchain publication.