Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Expects DeFi to Best Centralized Services

Co-founder and CEO of of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, said that the future holds further decentralization of financial services.

Appearing on the Bankless YouTube channel on July 1, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao predicted that in the long run decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized exchange platforms (DEXes) will be outperforming their centralized competition. Speaking with hosts Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman, the CEO said:

“I think in five or 10 years, decentralized exchanges will be bigger than centralized exchanges. I would say maximum, in 10 years, DEXes [and] DeFi are going to be bigger than CeFi.”

Although he believes that decentralized crypto protocols will outdo centralized ones in the near future, Zhao acknowledged that they can exist side-by-side as there will always be people who have a preference for conventional ways of managing their accounts. ‘CZ’ noted:

“I think it would take a long time for the centralized exchanges to go to zero, but I think it will take five [or] 10 years [before] DeFi is going to be bigger than centralized ones, but the centralized ones will continue to play a role for many decades to come.

I think because there are still many people who are much more comfortable using an email and password. If you ask my parents’ generation, they would much prefer [email and password] instead of using a USB stick to do encrypted backups of their private keys in a distributed manner.

The technology will improve to a point where the decentralized stuff will be much more usable. It’s actually easier to use because you don’t have to do KYC [know-your-customer regulations]. You don’t have to do all of these very tedious processes. You can have on your own control of your wallet.”