Episode 8: Around the Block with Gianmarco and Nicholas from Binance US about CEX and Blockchain trends in the U.S.
04/29/2022
Welcome to another recap from Around the Block. In episode 8, host Dave Uhryniak, Director of Blockchain Strategy at TRON, had a conversation with Gianmarco Gonzalez, Business Development Associate, and Nicholas Sismil, Research Analyst at Binance.US, about CEX and Blockchain trends in the U.S.
Markets are always on the move, but peace of mind is priceless. Binance.US provides secure and reliable access to the world’s most popular cryptocurrencies, with some of the lowest fees in the industry. Launched in September 2019 and headquartered in California, Binance.US was established to serve U.S. consumers and adhere to U.S. regulations.
In this episode streamed on April 29, 2022, Dave started the discussion by asking Gianmarco and Nicholas how they see the centralized exchange space evolving and their take on the space as it relates to the functioning of the centralized exchanges within cryptocurrency.
Gianmarco explained that currently, centralized exchanges function as an on-ramp and off-ramp to both the fiat and the crypto world, so it functions like a bridge. Another perspective not usually recognized, Gianmarco mentioned, is that it also serves as a bridge between different layer one protocols. As long as the centralized exchange has integrations between a variety of layer ones, it can also function as a centralized bridge.
Nicholas added that centralized exchanges serve another purpose of doing their due diligence behind the scenes to validate if a coin is legitimate and meets all the regulations. He also brought up an issue he gets asked a lot: “What can you do with crypto? Can you go to the store and buy groceries with it?” Nicholas said centralized exchanges bridge what we’re seeing now in the crypto space and traditional finance like implementing debit cards. One day, we could use crypto at the grocery store.
Dave then changed the topic to ask about adopting crypto trading worldwide and how Binance facilitates that adoption. Gianmarco conveyed that we’re starting to see a lot of adoption in many less developed countries, so things are moving in the direction people anticipated. He also added some Asian countries are using it as Venmo in the U.S., an instant transfer of value. You can instantly transfer stablecoins for a fraction of the cost you would like in Venmo, and people are using that to bypass existing financial rails.
“One of the biggest value adds that blockchain technology does have to offer is that it does not have existing financial rails,” Gianmarco said. “It’s not slow. It doesn’t close on the weekends, so you’re seeing this massive adoption happen of users and using it as currency. To me, that is very impressive.”
Gianmarco also expressed that NFT gaming is one of the most fascinating sub-sectors right now because there is a lot of competition and the ones that gain traction have strong in-game economics.
On that point, Nicholas is excited about seeing the wave of fractionalized NFTs. For people who can’t afford these expensive NFTs that can be used as in-game assets, fractionalized NFTs allow users to buy a portion of the NFT to use in the game, use the utility of that NFT, and reap the benefits.
“As time goes on, it’s becoming more decentralized and more equal in the way NFTs are coming about,” Nicholas said. “I think that’s the whole point.”
Dave pointed out that if people don’t like what’s happening in the crypto world, they’ll build their own.
The discussion came to an end by looking toward the future. Nicholas entertained the thought that someday people could co-own property through NFTs. Young people starting out could purchase a home via NFT with their parents, and over time, they increase their share of owning that NFT. It could change that homeowner dynamic within the country, Dave added.
Thank you for reading this short recap of another great episode of Around the Block. We look forward to bringing you another episode soon with our team, bringing web3 experts together for engaging conversations.