Full text of CZ's fireside chat: HODL strategy is challenged, survival rules in market volatility

In this in-depth dialogue with the Hong Kong community, CZ publicly analyzed the development bottlenecks of BNB Chain, the community controversy of MEME coins, and his expectations for the "healthy ecology" of the industry for the first time. He emphasized that "making fast money and slow money need to be balanced", and drew a survival rule for investors with coexistence of risks and opportunities.

On the evening of April 6, CZ unexpectedly appeared at the BNB Chain Super Meetup Hong Kong Station and had a frank fireside conversation with the community representative "Big Brother Tu'ao". Faced with the current industry status of MEME coin craze, belief differentiation and market volatility, CZ bluntly stated that "rushing to the local dog should not be the only thing in the currency circle".

"If you can't hold, you won't be rich"-this classic motto of Binance founder CZ has influenced countless investors, but in the new cycle, the HODL strategy seems to be facing challenges. In this in-depth dialogue with the Hong Kong community, CZ publicly analyzed the development bottlenecks of BNB Chain, the community controversy of MEME coins, and his expectations for the "healthy ecology" of the industry for the first time. He emphasized that "making quick money and slow money need to be balanced", and drew a survival rule for investors with coexistence of risks and opportunities.

Tuao Senior Brother: I have known CZ online for many years, but this is the first time I have met him, an online meeting. My name is Tuhao Senior Brother, and I came to Australia in 2016 to join the industry. But I think the most correct thing I did in the cryptocurrency circle was to join Binance Exchange when it just started, and then during the ICO, I bought a coin for one dollar, and I still have it until now. So today I am honored to have this opportunity to interview CZ on behalf of the community.

I have collected a lot of questions from the community, some of which I haven't had time to sort out... and because the time is relatively short, I try to choose some slightly stimulating questions.

Tuao Senior Brother: First of all, I think many people feel that this cycle is very different. Whether it is the VC coin slowly starting to decline, or the MEME coin starting to rise, or Trump in the United States also starting to support cryptocurrency, the whole cycle seems to have a certain degree of faith collapse. So CZ, what do you think of the current market situation?

CZ: Let me ask first, how many people are playing MEME by buying coin? (Many people raised their hands). Sorry, what I am going to say next may make you angry. I think buying coin is OK, but it should not be the only thing in the currency circle. The momentum of buying coin is too big this time, which is not a very healthy thing for the entire industry.

There should be people in the industry who are looking for the code of wealth, keen on tokens with relatively large increases, and there should also be long-term builders. But now all attention is focused on MEME coin, but these MEEM players are actually very disappointed, because it is not every day to find tokens that increase tenfold or a hundredfold, and no one pays attention to what long-term builders do, and they don’t think it’s fun. They don’t know which coin to list on the exchange. So the whole community is not very healthy. I think there is still a need for some ways to break the deadlock.

Tuao Senior Brother: Have you found a way to break the deadlock now?

CZ: I think this is a process. It is not something that can be achieved overnight. For us, in the long run, we still need to support construction, and long-term construction will be more effective. There must be real users, real income, and profits, and users can also benefit, so that the price of the currency can be maintained in the long run... I think there should be people who want to make quick money and people who want to make slow money. But now people who make slow money may not get enough support. So we are also investing in the MVB we organized this afternoon, and I personally communicate with the builders.

Tuao Senior Brother: I think I am also a "HODL" faction. In fact, many people... are truly priceless or hoarding coins. In the earliest days, I did listen to a lot of your sharing and felt a lot. Because you said a sentence at that time, "IF You can't hold, You won't be rich", and then my friends and I also regarded it as a motto. In the past few cycles, we did get a lot of benefits. But in this cycle, we also found that we were punished. Do you think we should continue to "HODL" now?

CZ: I think if you want this point of view, you still have to look at the technical side or fundamentals. You can't just hoard tens of millions of tokens on the market. Most tokens may eventually return to zero... Some really have fundamentals and practical applications, and you can hold them for a long time.

CZ: So do you think that in addition to Bitcoin, there are some other projects that may be worth trying and can outperform Bitcoin?

CZ: I think there are still many projects that have outperformed Bitcoin so far. Although people are not very happy holding Ethereum now, Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin since its inception. BNB has also outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum from the beginning to now (here CZ refers to the period since the creation of these two tokens that it has outperformed Bitcoin in the same period, and it should not be compared with the issue price of Bitcoin). But Bitcoin is now a reserve asset. In the long run, holding Bitcoin will still increase in value. However, there are still dozens or even hundreds of coins that may outperform Bitcoin.

CZ: This is more than I thought. I think there may be only a few?

CZ: Bitcoin's market value is very high, so it is still difficult to have another 100-fold increase. Therefore, there will be some coins with better fundamentals that have the opportunity to outperform Bitcoin for a period of time. But if you want to seize these opportunities, you still need to be able to discover and persist.

CZ: What are your expectations for BNB? Recently, some articles have estimated that BNB should be above $3,000.

CZ: The author of this article should be Hash global. They are a long-term supporter. When BNB was 6 dollars, they said it would reach 40 dollars, and when it was 40, they said it would reach 140 dollars, and then 1,000 dollars. His research on BNB may be deeper than ours. I think the specific value is determined by the market. The direction of our efforts is to expand the use scenarios of BNB, whether it is on centralized exchanges or DEX. The more use scenarios, the higher the value of BNB. Whether it is on Binance Chain or other chains, we are working hard to do this. We mainly want more users to use BNB. We have made a lot of efforts in application scenarios offline and online in various countries.

Now we are also investing in DeFi, NFT, and GameFi, hoping to make BNB Chain have more projects... Some countries have come to us and said that they want to use BNB as a digital currency recognized by their country, etc.

I think this model is feasible, and these are slowly advancing. We don’t have any secrets, just simply do things well and increase the use scenarios.

Brother Tuao: How high do you think BNB will go?

CZ: As for how high the number will go, it is hard for me to say, and it is not something I can control. I can only say that we continue to build the ecosystem so that more people are willing to hold BNB.

Brother Tuao: Speaking of BNB Holders, there is a saying recently that BNB big holders are nursing homes, and the benefits are too good, especially every time a new coin is launched, big holders get a lot of benefits, and then dump the market, and finally retail investors take over... Is this not good?

CZ: I think the more BNB Holders, the better, and the more people who get BNB for retirement, the better, because BNB is limited. The more people hold BNB, the better, and the whole ecosystem will be more prosperous. Of course, some people say that Holders do not do anything, I think holding BNB is a kind of doing things. In fact, it is precisely because of these Holders that BNB is also very resistant to falling, so we should thank these people who hold BNB for retirement.

Brother Tuao: Then ask a question about BNB Chain. In the past, I saw that BNB Chain did a lot of things and tried to create an artificial bull market. Has the current height of BNB Chain reached your expectations?

CZ: I think it is still a level lower to be honest. I think BNB Chain has not done enough in the entire ecosystem. When I was the CEO of Binance before... I spent more time on it. As for the BNB chain, we don't want it to develop according to the plan, but let the community develop it. In the past one or two years, I personally spent more time on things related to the United States, and did not pay enough attention to BNB Chain. This also led to the fact that although meme coins have been hot for more than a year, BNB Chain has basically not participated.

BNB Chain has warmed up a little in the short term, but the degree is far from enough. I think no matter what the next hot spot is, this kind of thing (negligence) will not happen again, and the entire BNB Chain community will definitely seize it. There are still many things to do. I think AI, DeSci and other fields should develop well in the future.

To be honest, BNB Chain had limited resources when it started, and the attention it received at the beginning was not as high as Ethereum. In the past year or so, I have also been busy dealing with some compliance or other matters in the United States. But BNB Chain is still developing well, but it has not fully tapped its potential. We will further invest in infrastructure, Dapp, and DeFi. This ecosystem cannot be achieved overnight and requires continuous efforts. We also hope that more developers are willing to come to BNB Chain, and I believe there will be more opportunities in the future. When I met with 16 projects of MVB today, all kinds of ideas can be implemented.

Tuao Senior Brother: You have done a lot in meme some time ago and are also learning. Let's talk about Meme coin, such as the recent PVP. Many people think it is a short-term craze, and some people think it is a trend in the community. What do you think?

CZ: I can tell you that I have failed in learning about meme and caused many problems to the community. Because I don't know enough, everyone said "you post dog photos", then I thought that posting dog photos can attract some traffic and create some topic heat, which is more fun. But later I found a few mistakes, including the community also told me that once I post a few photos at a fixed point, everyone knows that there will definitely be hundreds or thousands of meme coins posted together, causing serious PVP.

After the PVP, the community wanted me to choose one (memecoin), but it was difficult. I think it should not be me who should choose, but the community. I think Meme coin has its community popularity, but it also comes and goes quickly. Sustainability depends on how the community develops in the later stage. In principle, we (Binance) will support things with high community popularity, but we will also see whether it is legal and compliant, and whether it has value.

I am not so sure whether memecoin will be as popular as before. Many people say that there are many meme coins with a market value of 1 billion US dollars on Solana, but there are none on BNB Chain. But at this stage, can Solana run another "1 billion market value"? I don't know, and I think this is also difficult. So we still have to support the community. If the community is hot, then we support it. If the community turns to other things, then we will also turn to other things.

My starting point is to keep working hard to be a good builder and truly be a long-term builder. I will also interact with the community and interesting projects. As for how far memecoin will go in this wave, I really can't see clearly. I personally don't speculate on cryptocurrencies. I don't buy memecoin, and I haven't bought NFTs. I support this industry very much. I want to build its infrastructure, and I am very optimistic about this foundation, but I won't be the one who buys, sells, and speculates.

Tuao Senior Brother: I see that you often go to Twitter to read some suggestions or comments given to you by others. Will you adopt everyone's suggestions?

CZ: I have more time now, so I spend more time on Twitter. Of course, it depends on the specific situation. For example, I have to attend a meeting today, so I have less time to interact (on Twitter). It's normal for everyone to have positive and negative comments. I personally don't mind too much, but I will see if it is constructive. If it is abuse or false information, we may clarify it appropriately. I hope to hear the actual thoughts of the community. Whether it is praise or criticism, it will help improve. We will adopt it. Some of the suggestions we see are quite (constructive). I read a lot on Twitter, but less on WeChat groups.

Tuao Senior Brother: Do you feel uncomfortable when you see negative comments on Twitter?

CZ: Actually, no, I am thick-skinned. When I see criticism, I think I should not be too upset. At the same time, I should calmly understand and learn why others criticize in this way, and comprehend the most essential parts of others' criticism. So we don't have to take ourselves too seriously. Whether others scold you or praise you, don't pay special attention.

Big Brother Tuao: The last few questions: If you are a novice, is it a good time to enter the circle now? How to avoid risks?

CZ: I think it is never too late to enter the circle, but it depends on how you enter. The most important thing is to have a basic understanding of the project, and don't fantasize about getting rich overnight. People who have just entered the circle should try to look at the fundamentals. Things that increase tenfold or a hundredfold in one night will lose money very quickly. People who have just entered the currency circle should not put too much money in. Investing a small amount of money at the beginning will make the results easier to accept. You can consider investing in batches, DCA (fixed investment), and choose some mainstream currencies, don't go all in. In addition, you should keep a calm mind. Once you enter the circle, you must accept its fluctuations and not be affected by short-term ups and downs. The industry is still in its early stages and it takes time to build. If you are optimistic about the long-term value, you can hold it. In the long run, there is no problem with the future development of the industry, but in the short term, this kind of volatility will be very strong, so everyone must pay attention to the risks.

Tuao Senior Brother: What book are you reading now?

CZ: I am reading a book by Nvidia, "The Nvidia Way". I think this book is well written and you can see how others start a business.

Tuao Senior Brother: OK, then our time is almost up today, do you have anything else to say to the community?

CZ: Actually, I just want to tell everyone that you must pay attention to fundamentals and long-term construction. Short-term speculation is allowed, but you have to assess the risks yourself. The cryptocurrency industry is a highly volatile industry, especially DeFi and Meme, which are not very stable. I hope everyone can participate in a healthier and more rational way. We will continue to invest in the industry and provide more support and services to the community.

Tuao Senior Brother: Okay, thank you CZ. That's about it today. Thank you very much for accepting the interview.