- The Binance CEO added that the crypto exchange has no plans to offer stock trading.
- CZ also said the company is looking forward to completing some new company acquisitions.
Binance isn’t planning to offer stock trading to its users no matter the number of users on its platform or the new ones it could attract. However, CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) clarified during a recent podcast interview that crypto exchanges offering a stock trading feature aren’t wrong. But added that such an offering isn’t in line with Binance’s vision.
The general crypto market downturn has forced some crypto firms to add more features to their platforms to attract more users. Two months ago, the FTX exchange announced that its users could start trading stocks using the stablecoins in their FTX accounts.
While referring to FTX’s new feature, CZ said;
we don’t plan on offering stock trading options even if some exchanges are doing that already. We won’t become a fiscal broker store in the near or long-term.
Robinhood, WeBull, and many other retail investment platforms are reaping huge benefits from offering a stock market trading option. However, the Binance CEO said he’d prefer that his company remains focused on expanding in the crypto space, including creating more web3 tools.
Binance remains focused on the crypto and its emerging technologies
He added that Binance would stay a pure web3 company and keep moving forward and not go back to old technologies. He said that the emergence of web3 has resulted in a huge influx of cash and talents into the crypto space. CZ also revealed that Binance plans to purchase some crypto firms as the crypto market lingers.
However, none of them have businesses related to traditional equities. The Binance CEO hinted that the acquisitions would be straightforward. It won’t be like a bailout, loan, or anything complex. CZ explained that some complex deals are good. However, he always prefers to keep things simple.
He further said that the starting point of any deal should be about the core principles. Then, any additional should build from there. While speaking about the recent $500 million bailout from Alameda research to voyager digital, CZ said he would never be involved in such a complex deal.
You’d recall that Alameda research, owned by FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, recently offered a $500 million credit line to crypto lender, voyager digital. In May, the FTX founder acquired 7.6 percent ownership of Robinhood.
Read More: Binance CEO criticizes Voyager Digital bailout by FTX-backed Alameda Research
A June 2022 Bloomberg report claimed that Bankman-Fried wanted to buy the crypto and stock trading platform ultimately. However, the FTX CEO shut down the rumor saying he wasn’t having any active M&A discussions with Robinhood.
Before Bankman-Fried shut down the rumors, Robinhood shares (hood) shot up by 14 percent within 24 hours of the news being public. Robinhood’s struggle in the current market conditions is an open secret. The company has reduced its staff strength to cushion the effect. Yet, its shares remain on the decline. Before the downsizing, Goldman Sachs changed hood’s stocks from “neutral” to “sell.”