Turkey plays key role in blockchain: Binance's CEO

ISTANBUL

Turkey plays a key role in blockchain and cryptocurrency fields and the role gives a really good chance to the country for leading financial technologies, the CEO of a major digital currency exchange market Binance said.

Turkey is one of the most active markets in these areas, it will become very important in the financial world tomorrow, Changpeng Zhao told Anadolu Agency.

In the Annual Presidential Program released this month, Turkey announced it would launch a blockchain-based digital currency. Tests are expected to start in 2020.

The country also aims to create a roadmap for the development of Fintech ecosystem and establish a financial technopark in Istanbul.

Touching on the cryptocurrency sector, he stressed that the sector will become bigger and every government will issue their own currencies.

Several governments are already working on supporting blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, he added.

"I think China is very specific, they want to increase blockchain development, technology development, but they're not interested in promoting cryptocurrencies," he noted.

Zhao added that China will adopt blockchain with all other governments.

People don't understand blockchain yet

He said people do not trust cryptocurrencies because they do not understand the blockchain technology.

"You don't have to trust anybody else [in blockchain network]. The network is run by mathematics, by software," he underlined.

"I think the fact that people just haven't changed their minds yet. They don't understand it well enough, but very soon, I think they will," he added.

Paper notes to disappear

Noting that central banks will issue digital tokens, he said that all versions of paper notes "will disappear."

He highlighted: "If you look at China, there's no printing money, is all digital money, not blockchain money yet, but it's all digital."

All paper notes will be turned into blockchain-based digital currencies in the future, he added.

He also said the issuance of many digital tokens by central banks is good for the cryptocurrency industry.

All of the digital currencies will spread to the world like cell phones and computers which were not expected to be used by the whole world in the beginning, he noted.

Touching on social media platform Facebook's digital currency 'Libra', he said: "If Libra can get a large number of users, we will happy to serve to support it, but we don't know until it comes out."

*Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun