This is how Binance, Coinbase and FTX see bitcoin regulations

Key facts:

CZ, from Binance, assures that his exchange is the first one that everyone looks at, as it is the largest.

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

If there are qualified voices to speak about the bitcoin (BTC) market and cryptocurrencies, the regulations and what the future holds, they are those who lead the threads of the most important companies in the ecosystem. Binance, Coinbase and FTX are some of the world’s largest trading exchanges, and their CEOs gave their insight into the present and future.

Matthew Favas was the moderator of the talks – which were given on a delayed basis and with each interviewee separately – for the Money Talks podcast of the English newspaper The Economist. The protagonists were introduced in the episode title as the CryptoKings. (the ‘kings of cryptocurrencies’) and it was detailed that they are “very powerful men, but little known.”

When addressing the issue of regulations for this market, which has now already exceeded 2 trillion dollars in capitalization, two different positions emerge. On the one hand, Coinbase and FTX, more conciliators. For him another Binance, indirectly accusing a certain bias when applying controls.

Coinbase and its unifying stance from the start

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

Coinbase, the company that Brian Armstrong runs, 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 world of cryptocurrencies,” he added, while maintaining that they think “in terms of decades regarding the evolution of bitcoin and how people are going to adopt these technologies. ».

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

Finally, he also left other interesting concepts during his participation in the episode. For example, he assured that there is still uncertainty about which crypto assets can be considered securities and which cannot. He said that non-fungible tokens (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi) are difficult to regulate “since many times you don’t even know who creates a smart contract.”, and that cryptocurrencies will arrive “not so much to replace cash, but to give freedom of choice.”

FTX, also a partner of regulators

Sam Bankman-Fried, president 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 respond to situations. I think that can separate us from many exchanges. “

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

As CriptoNoticias has reported throughout 2021, China has been the country that has placed the most restrictions on activities related to bitcoin. 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, raises doubts for what is to come: “It is difficult to know what the future will be like. In China a new regulatory framework will be introduced in 2022, and in Hong Kong no details were given yet.

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

Lastly, he also left his views on a mass adoption of bitcoin and whether it could replace cash:

You do not need to destroy fiat money, as it can be very convenient for local transactions. But cryptocurrencies have characteristics that other currencies do not meet today.

Sam Bankman-Fried, president of the FTX exchange.

Binance has ‘clashed’ with regulators this year

Of these three companies, the one that has had the most back and forth with the regulators of various countries in the world is, without a doubt, Binance. Changpeng Zhao, its CEO also known as CZ, said about it that “unfortunately” the company is “the biggest player in the cryptocurrency space.” “So when regulators get involved, they look at Binance first,” he considered.

However, this has had its benefits: “It wasn’t that bad, as we helped shake up regulations in the process. We shake them off, given that Binance has 70% of the global trading volume, followed by Coinbase, which has 8%.

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

Even regulatory attempts like those in the UK 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, thus eliminating much of the competition.

Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance.

Nevertheless, CZ’s passion for cryptocurrencies is not the least bit altered: «Today I am 100 times more convinced than eight years ago», he assures.

Finally, he details: «It is not about the money, but about doing something significant. Throughout the history of humanity, 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.