Final yr former Binance Chief Monetary Officer Wei Zhou purchased Coins.ph, a cell pockets and digital forex change, from Indonesian know-how firm Gojek. Coins.ph, additionally referred to as the Coinbase of Southeast Asia, was based in 2014 and was one of many earliest crypto wallets and exchanges within the Philippines. It later shifted its focus to offering broader monetary providers.
Zhou had beforehand left Binance for private causes. He had labored there for 3 years.
BCN: How do you are feeling about governments attempting to control crypto platforms, which appears to be the development over the previous couple of years? Do you assume there’s a actual risk of misuse and cash laundering practices of unregulated platforms?
Wei Zhou: “I’m all for laws. The implications of a scarcity of laws will be dire and final yr, the crypto business acquired a stark reminder of this. FTX is one of the best instance of why we want laws; being an offshore firm, the corporate wasn’t underneath the jurisdiction of regulators in most international locations it operated in.
At Cash, now we have been working with regulators all through our 9 years of existence. We had been the primary Digital Asset Service Supplier (VASP) to carry each the Digital Foreign money and Digital Cash Issuer licenses from BSP. We proceed to work with the central financial institution and different regulators and are consistently audited to guard our customers.”
BCN: You posted a YouTube video about belief (By which you discuss concerning the FTX collapse and folks dropping belief within the man behind the corporate Sam Bankman-Fried), so I believe this topic could possibly be essential to you.
Do you assume belief is crucial factor on this business, or are different key components similar to excessive inflation, rising rates of interest and warfare are extra essential key components within the success crypto is predicted to have in 2023?
Wei Zhou: “Restoring belief in crypto is vital, however it’s under no circumstances the one issue that may decide the success of crypto this yr and sooner or later. Whereas inflation, rates of interest and the political local weather will play an enormous position, I consider that good laws would be the largest think about restoring belief in crypto.
I’ve been within the Asian crypto marketplace for a number of years and Philippines regulators undertake a development mindset with regards to crypto laws. As a result of reputation of Play to Earn video games, crypto has a internet constructive case for Filipinos, because it opens alternatives to earn further revenue.”
BCN: Are you able to inform us extra about your organization Cash.ph, a cell pockets and digital forex change? You got the corporate final yr, proper at a time when the crypto market was nonetheless in cheap form. What has modified in your firm and what are the prospects for 2023?
Wei Zhou: “Whereas the crypto market has seen a downturn amid the collapse of some world giants, our focus at Cash hasn’t modified. I took over this change with the imaginative and prescient of bringing monetary liberation to lots of of hundreds of thousands of individuals in Southeast Asia, beginning within the Philippines.
This yr, our goal is to develop into the Web3 gateway of selection for the area. With play-to-earn gaming being so large right here, we just lately launched Coins Arcade to leverage this curiosity. Our revamped Coins Pro is Bangko Sentral of the Philippines regulated and licensed, and it provides one of the best charges within the area for PHP to crypto merchants. Moreover, our QR PH integration was launched to supply further utility and use case for customers to scan and pay for his or her every day purchases with 1000’s of offline retailers throughout the nation.”
BCN: Are you anticipated to make any adjustments inside your organization in 2023? What are your long-term plans and expectations?
Wei Zhou: “Cash envision a brand new method for customers to reside and earn on-line and to reside and spend offline and in the actual world. In 2023, we goal to develop providers for Filipinos to expertise Play to Earn gaming and to allow low-cost Pesos remittance transfers through blockchain know-how.
To ensure that Cash to bridge this gateway into crypto and to facilitate these funds, Cash must collaborate with companions to supply deep liquidity in Pesos. Therefore, we’re searching for long-term companions concerned about constructing Pesos remittance rails.
We’re additionally trying to additional increase our product into new markets past the Philippines.”
BCN: Usually, do you consider in a constructive future for crypto and why?
Wei Zhou: “I consider that we’re nonetheless very early within the development and adoption of cryptocurrencies.
To completely respect simply how a lot room for development crypto has, I believe one simply wants to watch the Southeast Asian area. Whereas the West has centered on hypothesis with crypto, this area is leveraging crypto for remittances, chopping down the prices and time taken to obtain their funds drastically. The Philippines is the world’s fourth largest recipient of remittances, and with platforms like Cash, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos can now obtain funds from abroad in seconds and for a fraction of the associated fee they’ve paid for ages.
Southeast Asia can also be the world’s play-to-earn gaming trailblazer. Axie Infinity confirmed the ability of P2E gaming and hundreds of thousands of Filipinos had been in a position to feed their households via the sport. Axie and different video games nonetheless proceed to see hundreds of thousands of customers for this area regardless of the general market downturn, proving that crypto’s largest market lies in real-life functions that ship worth to their customers, not simply hypothesis.”
BCN: Thanks in your time. Good luck together with your endeavours!