The year 2022 had remarkable moments in the crypto industry. As several projects were launched, others crashed, crypto adoption and education increased across the world. Tens of education based crypto events were held across the world such as Bitcoin Amsterdam, Istanbul Blockchain Week, Binance-BCAT Africa, SmartCon, and more.
CZ, CEO of Binance, in an end of year message explained that Binance Academy has made strides in educating 26 million users on how digital assets work. He also said that more than 73 universities around the world were visited by the Academy to teach about crypto.
“Binance Academy has also started to produce and publish structured online courses in 14 languages this year, with plans to launch career-oriented courses tailored to the needs of future Web3 professionals next year,” CZ noted.
Binance, regulation, and building trust
Speaking about how Binance has interacted with regulators, CZ noted that the company has received 14 licenses in total across five continents at the end of 2022. He also added that the increase of the firm’s compliance team to meet up with demands, and joining the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) were milestones achieved as further engagement with regulators will continue in 2023.
For the CEO, this conversation is a positive feedback of the fact that the adoption of cryptocurrencies has increased over time. “Cryptocurrencies are here to stay and that the industry is gaining mainstream adoption,” he added.
Another area of concern for the company, which has invested more than $500 million through Binance Labs to support Web3 and blockchain innovation, in 2022 was the aftermath of several crashes of crypto platforms. According to CZ, releasing proof of reserve, avoiding the use of native tokens as collateral, creating access to continuous on-chain asset verification, and maintaining strong reserves were some of the recommendations he shared with other crypto platforms.
$1 billion SAFU
In keeping pace with the security and protection of its over 120 million users, CZ explained that they improved on the effectiveness of its KYC which prohibits unverified members from transacting on its platform. “In 2022, we continued improving our security systems and introducing more rigorous identity verification protocols,” he affirmed.
The leader of the largest crypto exchange according to trading volume noted that the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), an emergency insurance fund launched July 2018 and now valued at $1 billion, is another focus for Binance in terms of protecting its users.
Institutional adoption for blockchain
On how the crypto industry has fared, CZ said that adoption had gone up especially with institutional entry such as KPMG, JPMorgan, Rakuten, CVSHealth, Tencent, Fidelity, Baidu, Tesla, PayPal, American Express, Accenture, BlackRock, Nasdaq, McDonald’s, Google Cloud, Mastercard, Sony, and Nike.
He also noted that compliance and transparency became more important in 2022, and will even be more in 2023. “The industry must be more open to regulatory policies that ensure user protection, such as those that provide guidance to centralized exchanges on custody requirements, the marketing of assets, and risk assessment and disclosures,” CZ added.
The next bull run in 2023 or 2024
On the future of the industry, CZ pointed out that in 2023, the effect of several collapses like that of FTX will still be traced in the industry. However, he affirmed that he sees the industry revitalized again.
“Much work lies ahead to show that the blockchain space is not defined by high-profile bad actors,” he said. “In terms of market health, every bear market is better than the last, and I expect the industry to recover relatively quickly.”
He also highlighted that the next bull run might come in next year or the year after and will be triggered by innovative products from NFTs and GameFi. While the next phase of the industry is on the horizon, CZ noted that at Binance, the focus will be on building tools that people use, expanding the team and to invest in good projects.
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