Exclusive Response to CMC Concerns, Binance Founder Emphasizes: No Need to Strive for First Place, Only the Weak Seek Validation

After Binance acquired the data platform CoinMarketCap (CMC), the cryptocurrency community not only questioned the fairness of the data but also expressed dissatisfaction with CEO Zhao Changpeng's dual role as a player and a referee. Following the recent introduction of a new ranking system by CMC, Binance's ranking surged to the top position, leading to a peak in community discussions. In response, CZ deliberately wrote a lengthy article once again emphasizing the independence of CMC. The following are the key points extracted from the article.

Independence: Our Goal is to be a Decentralized Organization

The article points out that within the Binance ecosystem, each team operates relatively independently with its own goals and metrics. However, there is still a multi-level reporting system in place. If there is no progress towards the goals, adjustments will be made by the strategic and team members to become a fully decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which is the long-term goal in terms of organizational structure. CZ stated:

Many people judge an institution as either independent or not, but I believe the question is not whether you are independent or not, but "how independent you are." In the case of Binance, the level of independence is quite high.

Influence: I Give Teams a High Degree of Freedom

When asked about CZ's influence on CoinMarketCap (CMC), CZ responded:

I believe I have a certain degree of influence. I regularly meet with all departments and provide suggestions, including CMC. However, I believe I have given the team a high degree of freedom.

CZ also explained the recent controversy surrounding the "joining website traffic as a ranking criterion." Shortly after the acquisition, CZ asked for opinions on how to improve CMC on Twitter, with "improve exchange platform rankings, combat fake trading volume" ranking first. Therefore, CZ and the team started discussing how to improve the ranking mechanism.

Listen-to-community time. What would you like to see improved, added or removed from @CoinMarketCap?

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) April 22, 2020

CZ said:

I mentioned at the time that the old version of "adjusted trading volume" rankings would affect the neutrality of CMC, leaving room for "black box operations" for users. We need simpler indicators.

A few days later, the CMC team told me that they would integrate website traffic into a single ranking list. I did not inquire about how these website traffic scores were calculated until the new rankings were released.

Ranking Issue: Progressing But Not Perfect

CZ believes that solving the ranking issue is even more challenging than most people think, and some will start to focus on "website traffic," so CMC also needs to readjust algorithms and introduce more indicators to measure rankings. He explained again:

Binance does have the highest trading volume (most of the time), and scores highest in many indicators. But in some indicators, Binance is not ranked first.

Neutrality: Nothing in the World is Absolute

CZ also acknowledges that CMC can achieve a certain degree of neutrality, but cannot achieve 100% neutrality. He pointed out:

100% neutrality means presenting the collected information as it is, which CMC has done before, but we saw a bunch of fake trading volumes, unseen exchanges occupying the homepage. Defining "what is fake data" itself is subjective.

Our principle of neutrality is very simple, Binance (or any exchange) will never be artificially ranked first, and we are committed to achieving credibility in data and rankings.

It is also interesting to note that in the Simplified Chinese version of CZ's article on the Binance official website here, there are some paragraphs that did not appear in the English version. At the end of the article in the Simplified Chinese version, CZ emphasized:

If Binance ranks first, it means its overall ranking is first; if Binance is not first, it will knock down other opponents to return to the first place.

"Binance does not need to give itself a first place to prove it is the first, only the weak need to prove."