TechFlow News: On January 23, according to Tencent Finance, Zhao Changpeng (CZ), after stepping down as Binance’s CEO and undergoing a series of identity transitions, candidly admitted, “I no longer have the drive to launch new projects—especially not the kind of exhausting entrepreneurship I’ve already experienced once. Given my current situation, I simply can’t go through that again. So now, my primary focus is investing.”
During a public forum session, he compared the traditional banking sector with cryptocurrency exchanges, noting that in December 2023, Binance faced a single-day withdrawal peak of up to $7 billion and processed a total of $14 billion in withdrawals over that week. By contrast, any bank operating under a fractional-reserve system would struggle to maintain stability when confronted with liquidity pressures of such magnitude.
CZ further emphasized that blockchain’s significance has been proven over the past fifteen to sixteen years. Today, the crypto industry already boasts two mature sectors: exchanges and stablecoins. Looking ahead, he identified three promising new directions: First, tokenization—currently underway in discussions with approximately 12 governments regarding asset tokenization for economic benefit; second, payments—as cryptocurrencies increasingly integrate with traditional payment systems at the backend, the payments sector is poised for massive growth; and third, AI—cryptocurrencies will serve as the native currency for AI agents, enabling these agents to directly use crypto for real-world payment transactions in the future.
