Binance CEO: ‘Security Is The Fundamental Pillar For The Industry To Continue Existing’

Ensuring consumer asset protection is key for the survival of cryptocurrency while regulation is the main challenge, said the Binance chief Changpeng Zhao.

Preventing hacks is the most important thing for the survival of the virtual currency industry while governmental regulatory policies will determine the way of crypto development, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, one of the largest crypto markets, said in an interview with US magazine Forbes on Thursday.

Asked whether security is the key component for the mass adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Zhao emphasized that this is the crucial point.

“I don’t think it’s a key component for mass adoption, I believe security is the fundamental pillar for the industry to continue existing. It’s paramount for crypto and blockchain’s survival,” Binance CEO said.

In recent months, several major digital coin exchanges have experienced securities breaches. The Bancor hack resulted in $23.5 million in stolen cryptos in July while Bithumb lost $32 million a month earlier. Japan’s Coincheck was attacked in January, and that resulted in one of the largest crypto breaches as the platform lost some 500 million NEM (XEM) coins with an estimated value of over $530 million.

These hacks have prompted government action in various countries, especially in Asia, where Binance was born a year ago. The regulation activity around the world is the most important challenge for the development of the crypto industry, Zhao told Forbes.

“Currently, the existing frameworks around the world are disparate and not really effective. However, there are already several players working closely with different regulators to push things forward for the sake of improving the whole sector. I feel very confident about this being resolved over the short-term,” Zhao said.

Binance’s boss also revealed that the newly acquired Trust Wallet will be developed as an independent brand but its functions will be made available to Binance customers who want to use the wallet. The exchange will integrate its decentralized project, Binance Chain, with the new acquisition, Zhao revealed.

Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges with more than $1 billion trading volume for the last day as of the time of publishing.