Highlights:

Binance‘s CZ says his exchange is the first one everyone looks at, because it’s the most important.

Coinbase and FTX have been in close contact from the start to come up with positive laws.

If there are qualified voices to speak out in the bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency market, the regulations and what the future holds, these are the ones leading the thread of the most important companies in the world. ‘ecosystem. Binance, Coinbase, and FTX are some of the world’s largest trading exchanges, and their CEOs have given their thoughts on the present and the future.

Matthew Favas was the moderator of the interviews – which were given off-line and with each interviewee separately – for the Money Talks podcast of the English newspaper The Economist. The protagonists were introduced in the title of the episode as CryptoKings. (the “kings of crypto-currencies”) and it was clarified that they are “very powerful men, but little known”.

When we approach the issue of regulating this market, which now already exceeds 2,000 billion dollars in capitalization, two different positions emerge. On the one hand, Coinbase and FTX, no more conciliators. For him other Binance, indirectly showing a certain bias when applying checks.

Coinbase and its unifying position from the start

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said the exchange “took a different approach to the anarchy of the early days of cryptocurrencies. We donned a suit and met with regulators from California, then the rest of the United States. and bankers.

Coinbase, the company run by Brian Armstrong, has been listed on Wall Street since April 2021. Source: CryptoNews.

“We wanted to make it easier for fiat money to enter Coinbase and the cryptocurrency world,” he added, while maintaining that they think “in terms of decades of the evolution of bitcoin and the how people are going to adopt these technologies. ”.

This strategy, in its vision, was a success. “If we did not contact the regulators to teach them and eventually obtain our licenses, we would never become massive,” he said, adding that he devotes a large part of his time to this file.

Finally, he also left other interesting concepts behind while participating in the episode. For example, he ensured that there is always uncertainty as to which crypto assets can be considered securities and which cannot. He said non-fungible tokens (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi) are difficult to regulate “because many times you don’t even know who is creating a smart contract.”, and that cryptocurrencies will come “not so much to replace cash, but to give freedom of choice.”

FTX, also a partner of regulators

Sam Bankman-Fried, chairman of the FTX exchange, spoke in a similar vein. Regarding the possible laws that affect cryptocurrencies, he believes that “it is important to have a good understanding with regulators around the world to obtain licenses and know how to react to situations. I think that can separate us from a lot of exchanges. “

Bankman-Fried, in a recent interview with CNN. Source: Twitter @jchatterleyCNN.

As CriptoNoticias reported throughout 2021, China is the country that has imposed the most restrictions on bitcoin-related activities. FTX was affected by this as it had to move its headquarters from Hong Kong to the Bahamas, as detailed in the podcast.

This, according to its CEO, casts doubts on the future: “It is difficult to know what the future will look like. In China, a new regulatory framework will be introduced in 2022, and in Hong Kong, no details have yet been given.

The Asian giant and India are both at one extreme on the bitcoin “regulatory map”; at the other end would be El Salvador, where it is accepted and even legal tender, and in the middle the rest of the countries which are still trying to define the direction to takeBankman-Fried said.

Finally, he also left his take on massive bitcoin adoption and its ability to replace cash:

You don’t need to destroy fiat currency as it can be very convenient for local transactions. But cryptocurrencies have characteristics that other currencies don’t meet today.

Sam Bankman-Fried, Chairman of the FTX Exchange.

Binance clashed with regulators this year

Of these three companies, the one that has had the most interactions with regulators in various countries around the world is undoubtedly Binance. Changpeng Zhao, its CEO also known as CZ, said in this regard that “unfortunately” the company is “the biggest player in the cryptocurrency space”. “So when regulators get involved, they look at Binance first,” he said.

However, that had its benefits: “It wasn’t that bad, because we helped shake up the regulations in the process. We’re getting rid of it, given that Binance owns 70% of global trading volume, followed by Coinbase, which owns 8%.

CZ is 44 years old and the oldest of the three interviewed by The Economist. Source: Binance.com

Even regulatory attempts like the UK’s have served the exchange., according to CZ, to outperform the competition:

The costs of legal compliance are high. We are talking about millions of dollars to hire lawyers and improve internal processes. Many are unable to afford these expenses, eliminating much of the competition.

Changpeng Zhao, Founder and CEO of Binance.

Nevertheless, CZ’s passion for cryptocurrencies is not changed at all: “Today, I am 100 times more convinced than eight years ago,” he says.

Finally, he explains: “It’s not about money, it’s about doing something meaningful. Throughout human history, freedom of information, expression, education, the press, among others, has increased. However, money is not that free, and we can increase that freedom with cryptocurrencies.