The beauty of cryptocurrency is its removal of all intermediaries that stand between you and your money. It is a decentralized economy that aims to eliminate any single point of control or disproportionate influence, leaving only YOU in the driving seat.
Those who understand the genius behind crypto revel in the philosophy that stands behind it. The philosophy of decentralization which results in democracy, security, efficiency, and a major decrease in exploitation.
So, it is quite paradoxical that an extraordinary number of crypto users are customers of the giant exchange platform- Binance.
Binance is, for all intent and purposes, a fully centralized platform. If you are a Binance customer, you have decided to give up your digital wallets to the control of a third-party intermediary. If you think it sounds eerily similar to the premise of a bank, you wouldn’t be far off.
Binance has basically become the biggest bank in the crypto-economy, minus regulatory stands and customer safety precautions, that is.
The platform is slowly turning into an underlying risk to the industry, one that handles nearly 20% of all digital assets daily, and one that holds a ridiculous amount of power.
The practical dangers of Binance and any major exchange platform was made tangible when over $40 million was hacked from a single wallet on the Binance platform. Sure, Binance is strong enough to withstand such an attack, but it was only the first of its kind for Binance and stands as a symbol of what can happen when you put all your chickens in one nest.
Hacks such as this one serve as a reminder that centralized exchanges are fallible, despite there power, size, and promises of security.
The practical abuse of Binance was also on full display when, in an unprecedented move, the exchange froze 12 Billion TRX and voted itself into becoming the highest-ranked Super Representative on the TRX (Tron) network. It was a clear power move which resulted in controlling %18 of Tron’scirculatingsupply.
It was a clear flex of Binance’s muscles, and the move showed how CZ and his exchange are not afraid to use centralized power to manipulate the crypto-economy for their sake.
Criticism flew in from all angles for this centralized behavior, but by this point, Binance has become so powerful, critics seem to fall in the shadows.
The question is, why are many crypto users, who are a notorious independent bunch, putting their faith in a centralized exchange? One that has shown it is not afraid to exercise its centralized power?
With the number of users on the platform growing daily, there is no denying that Binance fulfills some kind of need in the industry. The demand for global cryptocurrency trading platforms is growing along with the industry, and Binance is there, always providing fresh tools for all those with a stake in the digital market.
The Binance is also regarded as an easy-to-use platform, provides more than 100 cryptocurrencies, and even has a coin of its own.
But all that glitters is not gold, and it is clear that at its essence, Binance goes against the core principles of cryptocurrencies. What was meant to be a decentralized, democratic and independent digital economy is being threatened, and no one seems to be doing anything about it.
