Binance Space review: Binance Alpha is just an observation pool. Only when the popularity and attention are high enough will it be launched on the main site.

Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Husband How (@vincent31515173)

Today, the Binance Chinese community officially introduced the new feature of Binance Web3 wallet - Binance Alpha at the Space event.

At this event, Binance co-founder He Yi and Binance wallet business leader Winson appeared together to answer questions about new features for users and conducted an in-depth analysis of the latest trends in the industry. In this session, Space invited a number of Web3 Chinese media and well-known KOLs to participate in this discussion, and asked He Yi and Winson questions about hot topics such as Binance’s currency listing policy.

During the event, He Yi shared his views on the current industry situation, responded to recent controversial issues such as Binance's currency listing, and elaborated on the future development plans of Binance Alpha.

The following is a Space record, compiled and edited by Odaily Planet

Daily.

Q: Binance has faced many controversies over its currency listing in the past year. How do you view this phenomenon? Why did Binance launch Binance Alpha? Can you tell us the cause and effect of this matter and whether the project selection process is the same as that of futures and spot currency listing?

He Yi: The listing of coins on Binance does have higher user expectations. Everyone hopes that every coin listed will rise. However, the actual situation is that the market value surges in the short term after the listing, and then falls back. This situation makes us constantly look for optimization solutions, such as suppressing currency prices through pre-market pricing, but the effect is limited.

There are also some structural problems throughout the industry:

• The project's currency issuance cycle is short, and it lacks real users and a solid business model. A lot of interactive data on the chain has been artificially "washed" and lacks value support.

• The current market enthusiasm is more about the distribution of "air". The project itself lacks labor results and profit models, making it difficult to support long-term development.

• The global regulatory environment is complex, the participation costs and risks for outstanding entrepreneurs are high, and the industry has fallen into an embarrassing period.

The original intention of launching the Binance Alpha area is to provide users with an "observation area" to list popular but immature projects on the market, including hot meme coins, VC-backed projects, local chain projects, etc. Users can trade these coins through the wallet, but their entry into the observation area does not mean that they will eventually be listed on Binance’s spot or futures. Because most meme coins will return to zero in this wave, only a few memes will survive. This is a cruel reality.

The significance of the Binance Alpha area is to provide users with tools to filter projects with high winning rates, and to remind everyone to participate in new projects rationally and do enough research. Ultimately, we hope to find projects that have real social value, can produce the fruits of labor, and reward currency holders. Despite this, whether it is Binance Alpha zone, spot or contract listing, it is a continuous screening and elimination process, and there is no guarantee that each coin can survive in the long term or allow users to make money.

For meme coins that are hot in the market, we understand their appeal and will include them in the Alpha zone to provide users with early value capture opportunities. However, the final healthy development of the industry still depends on whether excellent projects can truly generate social value and realize the sharing of the fruits of labor.

Q: Regarding Binance Alpha, are there specific project screening criteria? Are projects listed on Binance Alpha likely to be listed on Binance Mainboard in the future? Will Binance Alpha prefer projects in the BNB ecosystem?

He Yi: Binance Alpha’s project selection is not entirely dependent on whether it will eventually be listed on the Binance main board. The screening criteria focus on the popularity and attention of the project, rather than just because the project has entered Binance Alpha, it will inevitably be listed. In other words, although many projects entering Binance Alpha have high exposure and potential, not all projects will eventually be listed, which depends on more market and internal evaluation factors.

As one of the hot public chains in the industry, BNB Chain is indeed a key support target of Binance. Since the BSC ecosystem has strong competitiveness and high attention in the market, its projects are more likely to be included in Binance Alpha. But this does not mean that Binance Alpha is limited to the BNB Chain ecosystem, other outstanding projects will also be considered.

Q: Industry competitors invest a lot of resources in the wallet business (for example, the team size reaches 500-1,000 people). What is the current size of the Binance Wallet team? Faced with such strong competitive pressure, is Binance adopting a defensive strategy or an offensive strategy?

Winson: Currently, the Binance Wallet team has just reached 100 people, but the team is still expanding its recruitment, especially for technical positions. Excellent engineers are welcome to join.

The Binance team highly respects the huge investment and achievements of competing products in the wallet field, and actively studies and learns from their excellence. However, Binance will not simply copy the other party’s model, but will explore a differentiated development path.

From the perspective of market demand, users do not need two identical wallet products, so blind imitation is not feasible. Binance believes that the wallet track space is large enough to accommodate different differentiated products. Based on years of practice, the team has clarified its own development path and is confident in it.

Binance Wallet’s strategy is neither defensive nor purely offensive, but focuses on exploring new paths:

• In response to user needs, we provide simple, easy-to-use, comprehensive functions, safe and reliable wallet services to solve the on-chain operation needs of most users.

• Focusing on user experience, we make the user experience more enjoyable and provide security and data support.

We admit that Binance itself started late in terms of on-chain services. In the past year, it has spent a lot of time recruiting excellent talents, rebuilding the wallet team and reconstructing the system from the bottom up. Although it is still a "clear water room" at present, the team has made clear its future plans, and the goal is to gradually improve functions on the basis of meeting user needs.

The CEO mentioned in the summary that although Binance started late in the on-chain field, the team has sufficient confidence and resource investment. Just like Binance developed its contract business back then, it will also make great progress in the future.

Q: What is the long-term development positioning and plan of Binance’s new Web3 wallet? What are the differences between it and the positioning of Trust Wallet in the Binance ecosystem?

Winson: Binance’s new Web3 wallet is positioned as “novice-friendly”, but it is not limited to serving novice users. The team believes that if a product can be very simple for novices to use, then experienced users can also easily get started, although they may be a little uncomfortable. Therefore, the goal of Binance Wallet is to serve old users in the industry, while focusing on new users, and is committed to promoting the large-scale adoption of Web3, especially contributing to the popularity of mainstream user groups.

The team also plans to implement specific improvement measures in phases to solve key user experience challenges when using the wallet, and ultimately eliminate all obstacles so that users can use Web3 products without any barriers.

Differences from Trust Wallet:

• Platform integration:

Binance Wallet is deeply integrated with the Binance main website and belongs to the same APP, while Trust Wallet is a relatively independent product.

• Compliance:

Binance Wallet is designed based on KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements and complies with compliance requirements, while Trust Wallet is a more independent product and does not have deep compliance integration directly with the Binance main site.

• User groups:

The Binance Wallet service has a relatively broad user base, including existing Binance users and new Web3 users, while Trust Wallet focuses on providing an independent wallet experience for a wider decentralized user group.

Although at this stage, there is a certain amount of competition between Binance Wallet and Trust Wallet, this is not a life-or-death competition within Binance, but a "difference competition" aimed at providing differentiated services to different user groups. , and promote the popularity of Web3. The team stated that such competition will help the development of the entire industry, and the goal of Binance Wallet is to allow more people to smoothly enter the Web3 field and simplify the user experience.

Q: Are the projects in the Alpha section launched by Binance selected by Binance itself, or through other methods, such as community voting or open registration? If a project successfully "graduates" and is listed on the Binance Main Board, what aspects will be included in the main board's assessment scope? How to avoid the problems of volume brushing and data creation?

He Yi: Binance Alpha’s project screening includes both active screening and active registration or community recommendations from outside. Binance’s screening not only relies on the popularity of the industry, but also conducts detailed research and analysis, covering multiple fields, such as public chains, infrastructure, DeFi, NFT, etc. These filters combine on-chain data tracking with the project’s daily submission information. Therefore, it is possible for a project to enter Alpha through registration and community recommendation, but whether it is ultimately selected depends on its popularity and market performance. The Alpha section is actually a relatively broad pool.

For those projects that successfully "graduate" and have the opportunity to be launched on the main board, the assessment standards will cover multiple aspects. It mainly includes the quality, compliance, development potential, etc. of the project to ensure that the project is not only popular but also has the ability to develop in the long term. In order to avoid the problems of wash volume and data fabrication, Binance will strictly review the authenticity of the project during the screening process, including the source of data and trading behavior, to ensure that it meets the compliance requirements of the platform and maintains market fairness. Binance is also exploring whether to launch more interesting gameplay in the Alpha section and welcomes innovative ideas or opinions from the community.

Flushing and data manipulation are difficult to completely avoid in the industry, especially when some projects use airdrops or flushing tools to increase their popularity. Binance believes that the key is to identify which data is real and which is fake through continuous value judgment and industry experience.

Binance uses the Alpha section as a screening mechanism to allow projects to display and accumulate data first, to observe which projects can continue to attract users and create value, and which ones are just washouts. This is the core purpose of Binance’s launch of the Alpha section, which aims to screen out projects with real potential.

Q: How to screen airdrop projects in the airdrop platform section of Binance Web3 wallet? Is it possible to get more benefits by participating in airdrops early on?

He Yi: Airdrop is a tool provided by Binance to project parties and users. The main purpose is to attract users to project parties and provide more opportunities for retail investors. Airdrops may be a goal for retail investors, but for project parties, it is more of a means to acquire users. Binance hopes to connect more high-quality projects and users through this platform, avoid volume brushing, and ensure that projects can interact with real users.

In addition, Binance is also thinking about how to allow users to obtain more benefits through on-chain operations and ensure that these operations are simple and safe. In addition to airdrops, Binance also plans to cooperate with the industry through open platforms to jointly promote the development of Web3 and create more valuable scenarios and projects.

Winson: Binance’s airdrop platform is a sub-section of its open platform, designed to connect Binance users and project parties. The core value of the platform is to help project parties promote products to the right users through accurate user data. Binance does not intend to over-screen projects, but uses an open approach to allow any project party to initiate airdrops on their own.

In the future, Binance’s open platform will be further expanded to allow more project parties to promote on the platform without limiting the choice of projects. In this way, Binance’s goal is to create a diverse platform and provide more opportunities to project developers and users.

Q: Will wallets turn to chain abstraction or intention wallets in the future? If so, do you use your own technology or technology from other projects?

Winson: Binance Wallet will indeed adopt technologies related to chain abstraction and intent wallets, but it will not completely switch to these two methods. The goal is to lower the user threshold and achieve a more convenient user experience through these technologies. When it comes to technology selection, Binance Wallet will not simply copy existing solutions on the market, but will conduct in-depth technical research and design a suitable solution based on its own user needs. Although technology serves products, Binance emphasizes that technology should be combined with user scenarios to ultimately bring higher value to users, rather than simply following technology trends.

Q: Will Binance adjust the filtering criteria or display list based on user feedback on the displayed tokens? How would Binance respond if a showcased token encountered widespread negative feedback?

He Yi: Binance will arrange the projects according to its own arrangement logic, such as considering the rise and fall of the tokens, launch time and other factors. Users can arrange according to their own needs. Binance’s focus is to maintain the transparency and flexibility of the platform and allow users to sort by themselves.

For negative feedback in on-chain operations, Binance will remind users through notifications, especially when high-risk projects appear. Since Binance operates purely on the chain and cannot turn off functions such as deposits or withdrawals like the CEX platform, it mainly relies on an early warning mechanism to remind users. As for feedback channels, Binance is considering establishing a Telegram group to facilitate users to provide feedback at any time and ensure timely response to project risks.

Q: Binance Wallet is positioned as the largest airdrop platform. What is its core idea? How does Binance Wallet help newcomers lower the threshold for on-chain interaction, or what are its advantages and considerations as an airdrop distribution platform?

Winson: Binance Wallet’s strategy is not just focused on becoming the largest airdrop platform. While the airdrop platform is an important tool for Binance Wallet, it is not the only core strategy. The goal of the platform is to build a bridge between users and project parties, capture user value through the airdrop platform, and help achieve a win-win situation for both parties. The positioning of the airdrop platform is to provide users with a convenient airdrop participation experience, rather than just being a distribution platform.

Binance Wallet has made a lot of optimizations in guiding new users to lower the threshold for on-chain interaction. The focus is reflected in the following aspects:

• Guided experience: Provide users with a nanny-level tutorial that guides them through each step.

• Airdrop management: Use the Reward Center function to help users manage airdrop earnings, avoid manual management, and improve user experience.

• User lifecycle management: From project release to airdrop collection, to revenue management, we provide a one-stop solution that allows users to operate as little as possible and leave the rest to the platform.

Through these optimizations, Binance Wallet strives to simplify the user participation process and improve user experience.

If you look at it from the perspective of the project team, Binance Wallet is not only an airdrop platform, but also a precision marketing platform. Project parties can ensure that airdrop tokens are distributed to target user groups through Binance Wallet, which is also the direction of future product iterations of Binance Wallet.

Q: How does Binance Wallet define its own growth? What experiences and lessons has Binance Wallet learned from its past development?

He Yi: The growth definition of Binance Wallet is not only as an extension of a wallet platform, but also as an important entrance to the entire Web3 ecosystem. The goal of Binance Wallet is to become a simple channel for users to deposit, register, complete KYC and operate on the chain from legal currency. The core idea is to simplify the operation process and provide a smooth cross-platform experience, so that users can complete it smoothly whether they are performing on-chain operations or using centralized exchanges (CEX) for financial management.

Binance Wallet positions itself as the entrance to Web3, helping users understand hot topics in the currency circle and eliminating the boundary between blockchain and traditional finance. Whether users choose to interact on the chain or invest on CEX, Binance Wallet hopes to provide the easiest solution to enhance user experience.

In the growth process of Binance Wallet, the biggest lessons learned mainly focus on the following points:

• Insufficient reserve of professional talents: In the past, Binance Wallet did not have enough reserves in Web3 technology, and mainly favored the Web2 operating model. Although it can operate efficiently, there are still shortcomings in the in-depth understanding and application of Web3 technology. This is an important point of reflection. Binance hopes to attract more professional talents to join and promote the further development of the platform.

• Detours taken: Binance has encountered challenges at both the compliance and technical levels. For example, we have experienced difficulties and setbacks in the use, compliance and license application process of Compass in the past, especially in the Web3 technology solutions, where there were some mistakes. Through these experiences, Binance has paid more attention to compliance and made large-scale investments and adjustments.

• The process of transformation to Web3: Binance gradually transitioned from the traditional Web2 platform to Web3. This process is not easy. Although the company's operating model is very successful in the Web2 environment, Web3's thinking and technical requirements are different, and Binance has certain technical shortcomings in this regard. These detours helped the team understand that if they want to truly become an industry leader, they must make breakthroughs in Web3 technology and thinking.