Changpeng Zhao, , has shared a contrarian opinion about two controversial crypto projects. He argues that upcoming cryptocurrencies from JP Morgan and Facebook have every right to exist alongside decentralized projects—an idea that not everybody agrees with.
Unpopular opinion: JPM/FB coins.
In a decentralized world, anyone can do as they please (within limits, so long as they don’t hurt others). The more people adopt , the better.
Adoption is . Welcome!
How well will they do? Well, let’s wait and see.
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance)
The Controversial Coins
Both projects are controversial. is an upcoming stablecoin targeted at banks and financial institutions, and its ties to traditional finance could help it gain adoption. However, it has also been widely derided as a more restrictive and centralized version of . Even Ripple’s own Brad Garlinghouse has the project.
Meanwhile, Facebook is said to be a cryptocurrency and peer payment tool that will be integrated with its subsidiary app WhatsApp. Facebook’s project is controversial because it will probably resemble a centralized PayPal competitor that is powered by crypto—not a decentralized, free-moving cryptocurrency .
There is also another issue at stake: both companies have demonstrated famously anti-crypto attitudes in the past. JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has repeatedly condemned bitcoin, and Facebook’s crypto ad ban ICOs. It is easy to think that both companies support cryptocurrency only when it suits them.
Defending Centralization
Although both projects have plenty of opposition, JP Morgan and Facebook are not without their defenders. Institutional finance and payment processing are two routes by which blockchain tech could break into the mainstream. Both companies are in a good position to facilitate crypto adoption, which Zhao is in favor of.
Zhao nobody is being forced to buy coins that they don’t like. Indeed, purchasing the coins may not even be a universal option. Facebook’s project might initially be targeted only at . Meanwhile, JPM Coin is explicitly not for consumers, meaning that some of its critics may be experiencing sour grapes.
Binance’s Role
Binance itself is currently straddling the line between centralization and decentralization. The company currently runs the centralized crypto exchange in existence. However, it has also branched out with the launch of Binance Chain, which powers its new .
It’s not clear what role Binance will play in relation to the two upcoming coins. Both projects are in their early stages. However, when asked how users will swap one coin for another, Zhao “Binance will be in there somewhere.” Clearly, Binance will not shy away from either project.
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Published at Tue, 12 Mar 2019 04:52:37 +0000
