Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who is popularly known across the blockchain world as CZ, has stated in an interview that Libra will found a “large number of users”. Binance is the world’s biggest and fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange and in this interview with Coindesk, Zhao discussed a wide range of topics apart from Libra.
There has been reports about Binance getting involved with the Libra project and the Zhao said that there was no official partnership that has been formed with the Libra association. He mentioned that being an exchange, his priority is about listing coins with a lot of users. Zhao said that “As an exchange, we should stay neutral. So we don’t really comment on coins; we don’t like or dislike coins. We just provide liquidity.”
He also suggested that the Facebook Libra project will be successful by stating that “It’s most likely Libra will get a large number of users, no matter how much people hate it.” Considering the regulatory objections that Libra has faced, Zhao said that it showed the power and potential that Libra carries.
Zhao also mentioned there are chances of broader collaborations with Facebook in the future apart from listing the coin. “We are not against working together with them in deeper ways to promote collaborations,” he added.
The interview also discussed the Malta-based company’s plans to focus on the European arena. Zhao mentioned that he is looking forward to opening a new office in London very soon. The operational centre of Binance in the Isle of Jersey helps it to serve a range of customers based in UK but CZ pointed out that “it still feels like the off-shore thing.” He added that an office in London will provide the necessary “ psychological stability factor; a psychological closeness factor in people’s heads. It still matters a little bit.”
Zhao also discussed the hacking incident in last May when Binance lost around 7,000 Bitcoins, worth about $40 million at that time. Binance could cover the loss as its funds were distributed over various cold wallets. Zhao elaborated that “I could talk for seven days about security measures you can do. But hopefully your cold wallets never get hacked all at the same time.”
Zhao had tweeted in last June about Libra by saying “whoever said Libra was bad for the #crypto?” Regarding the various apprehensions about Libra, Zhao previously commented that “You can imagine everyone breaking the law, but please don’t attack them based on your imaginations, or future crimes.”
