While crypto encompasses a world of decentralized finance, it also leads the way in innovations related to Web3, NFTs, decentralized applications and more. Two of the biggest names in the crypto industry joined our VivaTech stage in 2022 to discuss the latest happenings in the ecosystem: Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance and Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum. Here’s a recap of what went down on stage.

The lineup
Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, is a serial entrepreneur with an impressive track record of successful startups. He launched Binance in July 2017 and within 180 days, grew Binance into the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.

Binance, since its beginnings as a crypto currency exchange, has also evolved to encompass Wallet Direct, one of the most popular decentralized wallets, CoinMarketCap, a media where people can get information about the crypto ecosystem, and its own crypto Binance Coin (BNB). The exchange platform has over 120 million users, which has grown from 20 million just last year.

Vitalik Buterin got into the crypto world in 2011 as a writer for bitcoin magazine. Through speaking with an international network of crypto enthusiasts, he came up with the idea to create a blockchain technology and make it work for a multitude of applications. Ethereum was born in 2015.

Ethereum is a general purpose blockchain, meant to support a wide range of applications, such as open and decentralized financial systems, DAOs, create an alternative to a domain name system – replacing a lot of the infrastructure that runs the internet. The crypto currency Ether is second only to bitcoin.

The nitty gritty
With currencies all around the world, including crypto currencies, fluctuating based on markets and local economies, are non-volatile currencies possible? How much should governments be involved in the creation and control of finances? How does blockchain technology change the future of Web3 and what is possible for the internet?

Our two crypto experts answered the questions most of us are asking surrounding this new, and sometimes confusing, industry.

How can we address the issue of volatility and guarantee that these currencies have a real value over time?
CZ: “I’m not saying that governments shouldn’t be involved in currencies, I’m just asking how much? Can private enterprises be involved too? We are just shifting the spectrum and exploring those options.

Will a free economy cause more volatility, yes. Is that good or bad, we don’t know yet. But the idea that everything should be controlled by the government, I’m not sure about it.

I don’t think it’s black or white. I’m not for anarchy, governments are necessary so that society can work together, but we need to test those limits and explore if there are better ways to do things.”

Vitalik: “As our society enters the information age, the most important things are going to become digital. That’s going to create a society and economy that looks weird. But that’s not just crypto, it’s just the stage of technological advancement our society is in.

I don’t think that crypto currencies are going to take over the world, but I do think that they play an important role in creating an alternative currency. This is especially true, not for wealthy countries whose currency is rather stable, but for developing countries where they can’t always trust the currency there.

It’s an evolving space.”