Is the cryptocurrency market doomed?
Recently, there have been many posts within the industry criticizing blockchain, and many people from outside the industry have been asking me if the blockchain scam is over. People within the industry are questioning whether the industry has lost its momentum. We are at a stage in the cycle where bad news is more likely to make headlines and attract more attention and traffic. What could be more worthy of ridicule than people within the cryptocurrency community criticizing the cryptocurrency market? These behaviors and emotions are contagious, and they generate more and more traffic. Even some retired OGs have become evidence of the impending doom of the cryptocurrency market. Some idealistic players within the industry have also expressed anxiety and confusion in our conversations.
However, it’s not just the cryptocurrency market that is anxious. Our lives are intertwined with the environment, water, and air. The activity of the investment market is also dependent on the economic cycle. Whether the economy is booming or declining determines where the public’s budget is allocated. As ordinary people, we only consider investing when our basic needs are met. Therefore, news from the Federal Reserve is like a compass for experienced cryptocurrency players, especially as the overall market size of the cryptocurrency industry continues to expand and large financial institutions enter the industry. The blockchain industry is gradually maturing, especially after the approval of BTC and ETH ETFs. Cryptocurrency and the stock market have become interconnected.
In hindsight, what changes has the cryptocurrency market undergone in the past decade? I once compared the cryptocurrency market to the wild west, and the early entrants into this industry were like the early gold miners of the west. During the economic boom cycle, a small amount of capital flowing into the cryptocurrency market could lead to exponential growth. In the early stages of the wild growth of the blockchain industry, taking risks and seeing hundredfold or thousandfold gains in cryptocurrencies was not uncommon. This was due to the combination of early niche markets and macroeconomic factors. In such an environment, if you made a wrong move today, you could make it back with one correct move tomorrow. However, as time goes on, the economy enters another cycle. Consumption levels across the world decline, and more players join the gold rush. The gold miners with their shovels continue to upgrade their equipment, and more professional players enter the traditional market. Everyone starts to feel that “it’s not as easy to make money in the cryptocurrency market as before.”
From Bitcoin being labeled as a “Ponzi scheme” by countless people to the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs amidst criticism from mainstream media, it is undoubtedly a great victory. At the same time, we can see that the trading volume of related products in the traditional financial sector associated with cryptocurrencies, such as CME and ETFs, is steadily expanding. Yes, the big players have arrived, but not in the way everyone imagined with mindless capital pouring in. Just like how the internet changed the publishing industry and the television industry, it didn’t happen overnight but rather silently and gradually. It brought more than just the rise of Bitcoin.
二、
Has Binance lost its edge?
We are the pigs riding the wave, sensing the pulse of the times, and standing with our users to bring Binance to where it is today. We hope that the blockchain industry is not just a playground for a niche group of players. We hope that in the future, Binance can serve one billion users and become the infrastructure of the future. We have been working towards this goal. When we want to meet the needs of the majority, it means we need to reconcile with the real world. We need compliance, anti-money laundering measures, and adherence to the existing rules of the traditional financial industry. History always repeats itself. In the early days of the internet, there were countless technological innovations, and the turning point came when companies that served the majority of people became today’s internet giants. The absolute liberalism of the internet led to the dark web, not overnight but gradually. It brought more than just the rise of Bitcoin.
We cannot predict the future, so we can only learn from history. A product needs to serve the majority in order to become the financial infrastructure of the future world. Binance started with trading but goes beyond trading. You will see the emergence of products like Earn, Square, Pay, and Web3 wallets. We want to try and explore how to bridge the gap and truly popularize blockchain technology so that ordinary people can use blockchain, not just speculate on it. They may not understand what blockchain technology is, but they can benefit from it, just like your grandmother may not understand internet technology but can enjoy the convenience brought by a smartphone. Bubbles will burst, but products that truly meet user needs will change the world and make history.
三、Is your coin listed on Binance?
There has been intense discussion within the community about the listing of coins on Binance. We have carefully considered everyone’s opinions. Whether it was the perception that coins invested by venture capitalists were betraying the community, or the belief that listing meme coins lowered the listing standards, or the criticism of the TG game projects on Binance, we have paid attention to all of them and constantly reflected on them. “Love deeply, criticize harshly.” Those who don’t care won’t spend time on you. Binance has reached where it is today because of its users, and we value the opinions of every user. Let me explain the basic framework and process of listing coins:
The listing process on Binance consists of four stages: business, research, committee, and compliance review.
To summarize, the aesthetic preferences of the past committees can be divided into roughly three categories:
1) Projects that meet the needs of users and have users and traffic. In the past two cycles, we missed out on many projects because we didn’t pay enough attention to meme coins. So, we were late to list projects like Shib, PEOPLE, PEPE, and even more recently, these meme projects that have seen significant price increases. The lesson here is that as a trading platform, Binance should not only consider what we think is good but also what users think is good.
In the dispute between DiDi and XiaoNei, it was also due to community criticism. We have been reflecting on what makes a good meme. If the essence of the meme community is another “anti-Wall Street movement,” where the token is highly concentrated and the price has been inflated by pumps, can we still call these memes or are they just scams disguised as memes? Therefore, we listed several projects with relatively decentralized tokens and low market capitalization, but many of the initial projects were eliminated during compliance reviews based on token concentration.
2) Projects that have longevity. In the past two cycles, traditional venture capitalists have entered the cryptocurrency industry in a big way. They have been generous and frequently invested. Subsequently, it was discovered that any project that showed some potential in the industry experienced a surge in popularity. After these projects received valuations of hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars from VCs, they had a large amount of money to experiment with and adjust their directions. The heyday of infrastructure projects like Matic, which sold tokens at low valuations, will not return. With a large amount of cash in hand, who would be willing to sell their tokens for tens of millions of dollars when their valuations are in the billions? The factors that determine their token prices are not Binance, but the token model, circulation, buy orders, and sell orders. These high-valued projects with top-tier teams have a large number of market makers willing to strategize to maintain their high market capitalization. There is no shortage of exchanges eager to list them, especially with the rise of DEXs brought by AMMs. A lack of a trading platform is not an obstacle. However, it is undeniable that while other projects rise and fall, these projects have longevity and more opportunities.
Many people say that this shows that Binance has lost its influence. Yes, of course, there is no absolute influence. This is precisely the characteristic of decentralization in the industry and the result of the joint efforts of financial professionals and the rise of DeFi. Both have played a key role in taking the industry to the next level. Without the involvement of capital, how could cryptocurrencies become a hot topic in the US elections? Decentralization means there is no absolute authority. Isn’t that the charm of this industry?
3) Projects with a solid business logic. In the past decade, there has often been a saying: “Cryptocurrency projects don’t need a business model. Once they have a business model, their valuation can be calculated.” However, whether it’s Web2 or Web3, the essence of entrepreneurship is creating something that the world needs and people are willing to pay for. The way of financing may change, but the essence of entrepreneurship remains the same. Since the ICO frenzy of Ethereum in 2017, I have been conveying one idea: issuing tokens is like issuing debt, using long-term credibility as collateral to obtain your startup funds. It is easier and more liquid than seeking VC funding. However, the responsibility is also greater. If you issue tokens and then immediately sell them and retire, that’s when a person’s credibility truly goes bankrupt.
Because we like projects with solid business models and revenue streams, we hope these teams are reliable and have the potential for entrepreneurship. We also hope that their valuations are not too high and that they can take care of the growth of the community. We hope that they can empower their tokens because if they stand with their users, their users will stand with them. If any project meets these criteria, please contact us or leave a comment below this post or fill in the information in the public application link on the platform.
Regarding the prevention of insider trading and the listing process, as a system, Binance has considered isolating information at every level. As the outside world has said, the Binance listing team has been “cleansed” multiple times. Currently, the people involved in Binance’s listing research do not engage in business discussions. They do not know which projects are being considered for listing. Each person only knows the progress of the project they are responsible for. Even if a project passes the initial coin voting, these projects are subject to compliance review and can be cancelled at any time.
From a compliance perspective, the current listing process on Binance is monitored. If any insider trading is discovered, it will be reported to the US Department of Justice and the inspectors from Fincen. Employees involved in insider trading will face criminal charges.
We can establish rules to constrain people, but we cannot rule out the possibility that there are still blind spots in the current system or information. Therefore, we are offering a high reward: we welcome all reports related to listing and other corrupt practices, or any other “listing observation indicators” that we may have missed. If you can verify the information provided by the Binance team, we will provide a reward ranging from $10,000 to $5 million while keeping your identity confidential. The reporting email is [email protected].
四、If we have different opinions, you may be right
In the past few months, I have posted very little on social media. The more I read, the more I feel ignorant and filled with awe for the world. We are all just grains of sand in the river of time, swept up by various coincidences and brought to the crest of the wave. Everything I have achieved today is a product of the times, the rapid economic development brought by globalization, the flattened information landscape brought by the rise of the internet, and the opportunities created by the emergence of the blockchain industry. It is not because I am exceptionally talented, but rather because in the early days of the industry, “heroes emerge when the times call for them.” This means that “I may not be right.” According to the logic of listing coins, even if Bitcoin were created today, it might not pass the initial coin voting. My casual and incomplete expressions may unintentionally lead to unnecessary misunderstandings and overinterpretations within the community. Therefore, I have been lacking the desire to express myself, but occasionally, when I see some misunderstandings, I still try to explain and counter the increasingly exaggerated criticisms.
Each person sees a different world, and we may be intersections of different parallel dimensions. If my words resonate with you even a little and encourage investors to DYOR and make entrepreneurs willing to persevere, I feel honored. Each person can only see their own future, and what you believe in will shape your reality. We will continue to explore the future, just like the first day we entered this industry. Thank you for being in this journey with us.
Original article link:
https://www.binance.com/en/blog/13659356461810
