On January 22, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) participated in a panel discussion titled New Era for Finance at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. During the discussion, he highlighted three promising areas for the development of the crypto industry: asset tokenization, payments, and artificial intelligence (AI).
According to Zhao, around a dozen governments are exploring the possibility of tokenizing public assets. Authorities aim to gain additional financial benefits and direct the raised funds towards infrastructure and market development.
He noted the increasing convergence of the crypto industry with traditional payment systems, which are increasingly using digital assets "behind the scenes." Zhao also emphasized the potential of artificial intelligence, suggesting that cryptocurrencies will become the native currency for AI agents in the future.
Binance's Scale
CZ stated that cryptocurrencies have proven their resilience over the past 16 years and are here to stay in the financial market. In this context, Binance remains the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, surpassing the combined scale of its five closest competitors.
“We have over 300 million users — likely more than any bank I know. Last year, our trading volume exceeded that of the Shanghai and New York stock exchanges,” he stated.
As an example of the resilience of crypto infrastructure, CZ cited December 2023, when Binance processed withdrawals of $7 billion in a single day and $14 billion in a week without any issues.
“I don’t know of any traditional bank that could handle such a volume of withdrawals. Banking panics are caused not by technology but by systemic flaws — for example, fractional reserve banking,” Zhao noted.
Regulation and the Future of Banking
The Binance founder stated that he is working with various countries to establish an optimal regulatory framework. In his view, a single global framework is impossible — each country needs its own approach.
CZ predicts a significant reduction in physical bank branches over the next decade. With electronic verification (e-KYC) and digital infrastructure, the need for in-person banking will decrease, although financial institutions themselves will not disappear.
“However, their role will fundamentally change as digital finance takes over everyday operations,” he emphasized.
Regarding transaction speed and costs, CZ noted that speed does not create risks — it more quickly reveals existing problems. According to him, slowing down systems does not eliminate weaknesses; it merely restricts users' access to their funds.
The panel discussion also featured MIT Sloan School of Management global economics professor Kristin Forbes, ING Group CEO Steven van Rijswijk, Primavera Capital Group founder Fred Hu, and BNY's development director Jay Coffey.
Earlier, Binance Research published an annual report highlighting tokenization and privacy as key market development areas for 2026.