Binance was founded in 2017 in China, the home of many of the most prominent Bitcoin startups including Bitmain. The country’s announcement of plans to ban cryptocurrency trading led to the prominent cryptocurrency startup moving its majority of operations out of China in search for better pastures. It eventually settled on the “blockchain island”, Malta, where regulations surrounding cryptocurrency firms, including exchanges, are much more clear and less lax.

China’s Internet Firewall

Binance was correct in doing this, as China’s internet firewall, well-known for blocking western influence news sites, blocked access to hundreds more cryptocurrency exchanges within months.The People’s Bank of China claimed that this operation was a huge success. Bitcoin to Chinese Yuan trading declined by 99%.

CoinDesk reports that Binance is seeking to expand its presence in China by opening a Beijing office.

Coin Desk

CoinDesk was informed by sources familiar with the matter that Binance will soon open a Beijing office, in addition to its Shanghai office. It’s not clear when or what purpose this new office will serve.

CoinDesk had some ideas. One of these ideas is that Binance might be working with China on its Venus blockchain project. To give you some context, Binance revealed the Venus project earlier this year to the cryptocurrency community. It claimed that it will allow regions to have their own stablecoins.

The apparent response to Facebook’s Libra was billed as a way of improving financial access. In a press release, the company stated that Venus had been working with multiple governments to make this platform a reality.

Mars Finance

Binance also invested in Mars Finance, a Chinese cryptocurrency data and media company that is supposedly based in Beijing according Blockonomi’s search through Crunchbase. Although the amount of the investment was not disclosed, Mars Finance was valued at an astonishing $200 million. The following statement was made by Changpeng Zhao, Binance chief executive, about the importance of the investment.

“We have a lot of respect for data, news, and research firms that support the positive growth in the blockchain industry. We will continue to look for strategic investment opportunities to help crypto become mainstream, increase adoption, accessibility, and grow the industry sustainably.

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CoinDesk sources have revealed the details of a new Binance branch in Beijing, hot on the heels a pro-blockchain speech by President Xi Jinping. Blockonomi reported that the Chinese leader stated at a meeting of China’s Communist Party’s Central Committee, which is pretty much the top body in the country, that blockchain should be adopted as a breakthrough in independent innovation of core technologies.

Binance may have taken this comment to mean that any move to boost the blockchain space is welcomed.

China Reaction

China calls for rationality amid Blockchain hype train builds steam. This comes just a few days after all of China went bananas for blockchain. WeChat statistics revealed that searches for “Bitcoin”, “blockchain” and other Chinese terms have increased by between two and three and twelve times, respectively, following President Xi’s comments.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange has seen a rise in the number of Chinese publicly listed companies that use blockchain elements.

The adoption of blockchain by the largest nation in the world is nothing to be ashamed of, but the People’s Daily newspaper, published by China’s ruling Communist Party has called for calm and rationality. In an opinion piece published late Monday, the outlet stated that “Blockchain’s Future is Here but We Must Stay Rational.”

Econiminst Nouriel Roubini

Nouriel Roubini’s skepticism during the 2008 crash was well-placed. He was one of few to voice concern over synthetic bonds that ended up driving the world’s financial markets to the edge of the abyss. Nouriel Roubini now has a hard line on all things crypto, including blockchain.

Nouriel Roubini, Image courtesy of the US Virtual Embassy Iran. Nouriel Roubini spoke out about his views on blockchain and cryptocurrency in a recent interview with Naem Aslam. According to him, ” The entire ICO industry is a fraud. People are robbing and raising funds for projects of zero value.”

Nouriel Roubini was also adamant about blockchain. He views it as a dead technology that will never be used.

Many people who admire Nouriel Roubini but are positive about blockchain and cryptos have been misled by his comments. It is clear that his negative attitude towards cryptocurrency and blockchain is not well-informed. Blockchain is receiving support from forward-thinking governments, despite the huge amount of development money that has been entering the sector.

Wrong about Blockchain

Blockchain is a new technology that is still in its early stages of commercialization. Although blockchain was first used around a decade ago with Bitcoin it has only been widely adopted in the last two years. It has received a tremendous response in a very short time. Numerous events have shown that both governments and corporations are serious about blockchain development.

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Nouriel Roubini responded to questions about blockchain and banks by saying,

Banks are not unique in testing new technologies. They test thousands upon thousands of new technologies every single day.” He continued, “If a Bank throws a little capital on testing a technology, it doesn’t mean they will adopt it.”

Nouriel Roubini’s perspective on blockchain is clearly limited. Many banks are not only testing blockchain technology but are also creating patent systems to manage multiple tasks using blockchain. This is more than a fad. Nouriel Roubini will likely find himself in an increasingly isolated situation if he continues to hold a view of Blockchain that is meaningfully detached from objective reality.

Goverment

Blockchain is a favorite of government officials. Nouriel Roubini has criticized blockchain and cryptos for their inability to scale. It is clear that Bitcoin will not be the platform that replaces the existing global financial system. Bitcoin is slow, cumbersome and consumes a lot of electricity. It was also the first cryptocurrency platform to be widely adopted, although it wasn’t intended to take over the world.

There are billions of dollars being invested in the blockchain development sector, and countries like China, South Korea, and Hong Kong are trying to gain the advantage in blockchain technology. South Korea has more 4 billion USD in its budget for blockchain development programs and is actively encouraging developers to explore new ways to use this technology.

China is also on a blockchain investment spree. Today, there are more Chinese companies with blockchain in their names than any other country. They will be able to benefit from local development programs, such as the one created by the city of Nanjing. It will pump more than a trillion dollars into local blockchain companies.

No Pop Soon

There is likely to be some froth in blockchain technology as with any new technology. No matter what industry they work in, startups always lose money. Blockchain developers will likely be no different. This is not a criticism of Blockchain, but rather the facts of how new ideas get to market.

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Blockchain development is not going anywhere. In a decade, it will likely be a widely-used technology. The fate of the first crypto crop is uncertain. Also, the friendly relationship blockchain has with governments doesn’t extend to decentralized currencies. Nouriel Roubini should stick to Bitcoin if he is going to continue to criticize something.