In a YouTube video posted on November 22, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson expressed his thoughts on the departure of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao from the exchange. Hoskinson remarked that this development signifies "the end of an era." He stressed the importance for entrepreneurs to comply with regulations or create entirely permissionless protocols that are beyond regulatory control.
Hoskinson highlighted CZ's significance as part of the entrepreneurial class within the cryptocurrency realm, embodying rapid growth and innovation. Reflecting on the earlier days of cryptocurrency, Hoskinson recalled how traders utilized spreadsheets for transactions and resorted to PayPal to purchase cryptocurrencies, characterizing this as the "first wave" of innovation. He credited CZ and Binance for their role in ushering in the "second wave" in 2017, becoming a significant force in the industry.
Describing CZ as one of the most remarkable entrepreneurs of our time, Hoskinson acknowledged the substantial volume of transactions—amounting to trillions of dollars—that flowed through CZ's exchanges. However, he cautioned that the changing landscape demands compliance with regulations, particularly citing the United States' financial system as being highly controlled and unlikely to permit unregulated market access to entities perceived as adversaries.
Hoskinson opined that the evolving global scenario, marked by various countries resisting the U.S.-led financial system, is placing cryptocurrencies in jeopardy. He referred to incidents like Binance's plea deal as repercussions of this situation. He anticipated potential future regulatory actions by the U.S. government, such as tightening controls on external wallets, while emphasizing that innovators possess significant leverage to uphold freedom while assuaging regulatory concerns.
Hoskinson mentioned Midnight, a network designed to facilitate algorithmic law-based trading, as a potential partial solution to navigate government regulations on cryptocurrencies. He mentioned that on November 21, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed a plea agreement between CZ and Binance concerning criminal charges related to violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. CZ resigned as CEO and paid a $15 million bond pending his release, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for February 23, 2024. Hoskinson referred to CZ as a "friend" and characterized him as a "good guy" in the video.
