One of them is Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the CEO of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. He has expressed his views while speaking to CNBC during the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, as the news network reported on April 15. In 2021, the regulators in the United Kingdom banned Zhao’s company from carrying out any regulated activity there. At the same time, the central bank of Singapore stated that Binance’s services could be in violation of the local laws, forcing the platform to limit its operations. However, as he told CNBC: These words echo the sentiment he expressed in his speech opening the summit on April 13, saying that regulatory discussions concerning crypto have moved from “negative” to “positive.” Zhao’s views are shared by other important figures in the industry, including Nicolas Cary, the co-founder of crypto wallet maker Blockchain.com. Talking to CNBC, Cary said that:
Entering the regulatory framework
Indeed, although the Chinese authorities have made it clear they didn’t want anything to do with crypto, Great Britain and the United States are planning to bring the budding market under regulatory control, as they seek to become leaders in crypto innovation and investment. In line with this stance, the U.K. government has recently announced plans to recognize stablecoins as a valid form of payment. At the same time, the country’s Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has asked the Royal Mint to create a non-fungible token (NFT), which will be issued by the summer. As Cary sees it: France, the host of the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, is another country mentioned in a positive context. Namely, Zhao considers it “very progressive and very welcoming towards cryptocurrencies,” as well as “far more advanced in their understanding.” Commenting on the authorities’ cautiousness regarding the ‘dark side’ of the industry, including money laundering and other illegal transactions, the co-founder of Tezos (XTZ), Arthur Breitman, has said that:
Some experiences differ
That said, some crypto executives have had a bitter experience with financial regulators recently, including the CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, whose company is in the middle of a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He said: Notably, the SEC is accusing the firm of illegally selling over $1 billion worth of the XRP token between 2013 and 2020.
