Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng says Thailand’s digital assets market still has a lot of room to grow, as it is still at an early stage of development.
He also pointed to a high adoption rate of 10% for cryptocurrencies in Thailand. “People are much more willing to learn from new things and new technology,” he said.
For the CEO, this is a good beginning for the industry to grow further in Thailand. “It is still very early on. … I think we get to know this industry. So, we have room to grow. We have plenty of areas that we’ll see new use cases when you see new investors coming through.”
Founded in 2017, Binance is a global company that operates the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
Adoption & awareness
When asked about Binance’s opportunity in the Thai crypto market, Teng said his company has technologies and products for Thai investors.
“We can do a lot with the Thai market to really bring about the crypto adoption and awareness,” he said, adding that despite the 10% adoption rate, “there’s still a lack of awareness in many parts”.
“We are still very early in the game on crypto. It’s never too late to learn. It’s never too late to embrace. We are at a very early stage of development and the best is yet to be,” Teng said.
The Binance chief was speaking at the CEOs Fireside Chat held during the recent Gulf Binance Digital Asset Forum.
Gulf Binance Co Ltd – a joint venture between Binance Capital Management and Gulf Innova – secured a license from Thailand’s Ministry of Finance in May 2023 to operate a digital asset platform.
Price fluctuations
Commenting on price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Teng reckoned this is not uncommon for assets with small market capitalization.
“Crypto normally goes through a market cycle of about four years,” he said but added, however, that the current cycle was different from the past.
He was quick to add that he could not or was not required to give financial advice regarding this matter.
“But for me, it’s pure economics,” he said, pointing to robust demand versus new supply.
The Binance CEO also pointed to Thailand’s major strengths to help boost its crypto industry – a strong ecosystem with government support to Web3 and blockchain, a large talent pool and friendly rules for new players, and high awareness among the stakeholders.
Power of blockchain
Meanwhile, Binance Chief Marketing Officer Rachel Conlan underlined the transformative power of blockchain and its positive impact on modern society. “As we know, blockchain technology is impacting a broad range of our lives – everything from real estate to sports and entertainment to social media,” she said.
Conlan, who leads the marketing and branding efforts at Binance, was giving a keynote speech on “Market Outlook and Trends” during the recent Gulf Binance Digital Asset Forum.
The Binance CMO mentioned two significant events that are poised to make waves in the Bitcoin market – the recent approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the upcoming Bitcoin halving in April 2024. For market analysts, these developments are expected to have a profound positive impact on the price of Bitcoin, ushering in a new era of growth and legitimacy for the world’s leading cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin halving
“The Bitcoin halving has grabbed the attention of users and non-users alike. And we’ve also seen that the recent approval of [Bitcoin ETFs] has driven overwhelming interest from the institutions,” Conlan said.
“In February alone, we saw $4.9 billion worth of liquidity come into this space. In February alone, we saw a 40% increase in total crypto market capitalization. And that’s a level that we have not seen since October of 2021,” she added.
The Bitcoin halving is a pre-programmed event built into the protocol that occurs approximately every four years, reducing the rate at which new Bitcoin is created by half. This mechanism is designed to control inflation and ensure a finite supply of Bitcoin, akin to digital gold.
The next Bitcoin halving is expected to take place in April 2024, according to the Binance.com website. “It is difficult to predict the exact date as it depends on the block height. Since halving happens every 210,000 blocks, the next Bitcoin halving is expected to occur in April 2024 when the block height reaches 840,000,” it says.
When Bitcoin was first released in 2009, the mining reward started at 50 BTC per block. Since then, there have been three halvings – the first one in November 2012, when the mining reward was reduced to 25 BTC per block; the second one in July 2016, when the reward was halved further to 12.5 BTC; and the third one in May 2020, when the reward was again halved to 6.25 BTC.
Impact of AI
Conlan also pointed out that artificial intelligence (AI) was going to have a transformative impact on the crypto market. “While AI is still in the very initial stages of development, integrating AI into the crypto ecosystem opens up a realm of opportunity,” she said.
According to her, security is another key trend for the crypto industry to win the next generation of users and cultivate trust within the community. “Considering the importance of security, we anticipate that this is going to be a big focus area in 2024. And we already know of a lot of different companies and projects that are investing aggressively in this area.”
