CZ's Hong Kong Session: Love What You Do and Stay Resilient

On April 6th, during the BNB Chain Super Meetup in Hong Kong, Binance’s former CEO, CZ, had a discussion with KOL Tuao Master and Tron founder Justin Sun. CZ mentioned that most of the attention is being drawn to Memecoins, to the point where even those of us in the exchange business don’t know which coins to list. The long-term direction should still be focused on supporting those who BUIDL. A project that can truly go the distance must have real users, revenue, and profit — this is how users can continue to benefit, and the token price can stabilize. Personally, my learning about Memecoins has been somewhat of a failure, and it has indeed caused some issues for the community. Recently, I’ve been reading a book about Nvidia called The Nvidia Way. Binance’s Web3 wallet isn’t very user-friendly, and our competitors have already accumulated a lot of advantages over the past few years. It will be hard for the Binance team to catch up in the short term. The challenge of Memecoins is no less than that of traditional projects. It also requires careful content development and storytelling to truly stand out. It needs quality IP, continuous content output, and a reliable team. Don’t rush to issue coins. Teams that genuinely want to BUIDL in the long term actually find it easier to secure funding today — not by issuing tokens, but through partnerships with the right institutions. Do what you truly love. Persistence is key — whether you can endure is the deciding factor for whether an individual or project can succeed.

The audio transcription was generated by GPT and may contain inaccuracies. Please listen to the full podcast for the complete and accurate content.

Xiaoyuzhou Podcast:

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A Different Cycle: Hype, Faith Collapse, and the Absence of Builders

Tuao Master: I’ve known CZ for many years, but today is actually the first time we’ve met in person — kind of like an “online friend finally meeting offline.” I’m Tuao Master, and I entered the crypto space in 2016 while I was in Australia. Looking back, the best decision I made in this industry was getting involved with Binance early on. I bought BNB during the ICO when it was still around one dollar — and I’m still holding it to this day. So it’s a real honor to be here today, representing the community in this conversation with CZ.

I’ve gathered a lot of questions from the community, but since time is limited, I’ll have to pick a few of the slightly more “provocative” ones to ask.

First of all, many people feel that this cycle is very different. VC-backed tokens are gradually being marginalized, Memecoins are on the rise, and even Trump has started expressing support for crypto. It feels like there’s been a kind of “collapse of conviction” across the industry. What’s your view on the current state of the market?

CZ: Let me ask first — how many of you here are aping into memecoins and chasing shitcoins? (many hands go up)

Then I might have to say something you won’t want to hear: it’s fine to chase shitcoins, but that shouldn’t be everything the crypto space is about. The noise around this round of Memecoins is just too loud — and in some ways, it’s actually unhealthy for the industry.

Of course, the market should have both those looking for quick wealth and those who are genuinely building. But the problem now is that almost all the attention has been sucked up by Memecoins. When meme traders can’t find 10x or 100x tokens, they get disappointed. Meanwhile, real BUIDL projects get ignored — people think they’re “not fun.” Even for us running an exchange, it’s hard to know which tokens we should be listing.

This kind of community atmosphere is unhealthy, and we do need some breakthroughs to change that.

Breaking the Stalemate: Let Projects with Real Users and Real Revenue Step Forward

Tuao Master: Do you think you’ve found a way to break through?

CZ: We’re still in the process — it’s not something that can be achieved overnight.

Our long-term direction is still to support the people who are BUIDLing. A project that can truly go the distance must have real users, generate revenue, and be profitable. That’s how users can continue to benefit, and how token prices can remain stable.

I’m not against those who are chasing quick money, but right now, the builders who are in it for the long game clearly aren’t getting enough support. That’s why we’re running programs like MVB and investing in projects. Personally, I stay in close contact with many builders — because we want to keep the ecosystem strong.

Is HODL Still Worth It?

Tuao Master: I consider myself part of the HODL camp — actually, I was originally influenced by your famous quote: “If you can’t HODL, you won’t be rich.” Over the past few cycles, that approach worked out pretty well. But this time around, it feels more like I’m being “punished” for it. Do you think it still makes sense to keep holding in this market?

CZ: I still stand by what I said — HODLing is a strategy, but only if you understand the fundamentals.

You can’t just see thousands of tokens and try to hold them all. Most tokens will eventually go to zero. The ones truly worth holding long-term are those with real use cases and solid fundamentals.

Beyond Bitcoin: Which Cryptos Can Outperform It?

Tuao Master: So aside from Bitcoin, do you think there are other tokens worth exploring — ones that might outperform BTC?

CZ: Actually, there are already quite a few. From a long-term perspective, Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin since it was created. BNB has also outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum since its launch — I’m referring to performance over the same time period, not relative to its initial offering price.

Of course, Bitcoin’s position is still that of a reserve asset, and holding it long-term will almost certainly lead to appreciation. But in specific market phases, there are dozens — even hundreds — of tokens that have the potential to outperform Bitcoin. The key is having the insight and conviction to identify and hold them.

How Do You Assess the Valuation of BNB?

Tuao Master: Some articles suggest that the fair value of BNB should be over $3,000. What’s your take on that?

CZ: I’m guessing that article was written by Hash Global. They’ve been long-time supporters of BNB — they were bullish on it all the way from $6. In fact, their research on BNB is probably even deeper than ours.

The specific price isn’t something I decide — it’s determined by the market. What we need to focus on is expanding BNB’s use cases. Whether it’s on centralized exchanges, DEXs, or on-chain applications — the more real-world utility it has, the greater its value will be.

Right now, we’re continuing to invest in areas like DeFi, NFTs, and GameFi. Some governments have even approached us, hoping to recognize BNB as an officially accepted digital asset in their countries. We’re actively working on that. There’s no secret — just doing things well, step by step.

Tuao Master: How high do you think BNB can go?

CZ: That’s really hard for me to say — how much it goes up isn’t something I can control. What we can do is keep building and continue expanding BNB’s use cases and ecosystem.

“BNB Retirement Fund”: The Debate Over Big Holders Dumping and Their Benefits

Tuao Master: There’s been a pretty heated discussion in the community lately. Some people are saying that BNB HODLers are enjoying too many benefits — it’s turned into a kind of “retirement home.” Every time a new token launches, the whales get the biggest allocations and dump quickly, while retail investors are left holding the bag. What’s your take on that?

CZ: I think the more people who hold BNB, the better. And the more people who want to “retire” with BNB, the better — because BNB is limited in supply. As long as people are willing to hold it for the long term, that’s a form of support for the ecosystem.

Some people say that HODLers aren’t doing anything — but in fact, it’s exactly these HODLers who provide stability to the market, and that’s what gives BNB its strong resilience during downturns. So we should be thankful to them.

Reflections and Outlook on BNB Chain

Tuao Master: Let’s talk about BNB Chain. We’ve seen you put a lot of effort into it over the past year — some even say you’ve been “engineering a bull market.” Do you think its current development has lived up to your expectations?

CZ: To be honest, it’s still a bit behind. When it comes to ecosystem development, BNB Chain hasn’t done enough yet.

Back when I was still CEO of Binance, I personally spent a lot of time pushing things forward. But over the past year or so, most of my energy has been focused on regulatory matters in the U.S., and I haven’t paid enough attention to the chain itself. During that time, the Meme coin wave kept gaining momentum — but BNB Chain was largely absent from it.

BNB Chain has shown some signs of recovery recently, but the momentum is still not strong enough. No matter what the next trend is, we can’t afford to be absent like that again.

We are working to fill in the gaps, with a focus on continuous investment in areas like infrastructure, DeFi, AI, and DeSci. When BNB Chain started, resources were limited, and it didn’t receive as much attention as Ethereum. But I believe we have the opportunity to make the ecosystem stronger.

Today, I had a meeting with 16 projects from MVB, and I saw a lot of interesting ideas that are definitely worth pursuing.

Meme Coin Bubble and Community Perception

Tuao Master: Recently, you’ve made quite a few attempts in the Meme space, like posting dog photos to promote PVP. Some people find it fun, while others think it’s creating unnecessary hype. What’s your take on the current wave of Memecoins?

CZ: To be honest, my learning in the Meme space has been somewhat of a failure, and it has indeed caused some issues for the community.

At first, I just wanted to post some dog photos to drive traffic and liven up the community. But I didn’t expect it to create a chain reaction — one photo from me, and suddenly hundreds of Memecoin projects were launched, with PVP popping up right away.

The community started hoping that I would “pick one,” but I don’t think that’s something I can choose — it should be up to the community. Meme coins are inherently a part of community culture, but they come quickly and fade just as fast. Whether they can continue to thrive will depend on how the community manages them in the long run.

We will support projects that have high community engagement, but we will also consider whether they are legal and compliant.

As for whether a Memecoin with a market cap of $1 billion can emerge on BNB Chain, I’m not sure. A few have already emerged on Solana, but none on BNB yet. Whether that will happen in the future, it’s hard to say.

Personally, I don’t buy Memecoins, and I’ve never bought an NFT. I’m not into trading tokens; my focus is mainly on infrastructure and the underlying industry foundation.

Community Feedback: How to Handle Suggestions and Criticism?

Tuao Master: I see you’re often on Twitter, and people give you a lot of advice and feedback there. Do you take any of it into consideration?

CZ: I do have more time these days, and I’ve spent quite a bit of it on Twitter. It’s normal to receive both praise and criticism, and I don’t really mind. But if there are constructive suggestions, of course, we’ll take them into consideration.

If it’s abuse or misinformation, we’ll also clarify it when necessary. I pay close attention to Twitter, but I rarely check WeChat groups.

Tuao Master: Does seeing negative feedback ever upset you?

CZ: No, I’m pretty thick-skinned. (laughs) When faced with criticism, you need to learn to extract the valuable parts and understand why they’re saying it. There’s no need to take yourself too seriously — whether someone’s criticizing or praising you, it’s not something you should dwell on too much.

Advice for Beginners: Don’t Dream of Overnight Riches

Tuao Master: So, for newcomers who are entering the space now, do you think it’s a good time? What advice do you have for them to mitigate risks?

CZ: I don’t think it’s ever too late to enter the space; the key is how you enter.

The most important thing is to understand the fundamentals of the project and not to fantasize about getting rich overnight. Things that offer 10x or 100x returns can also lead to losses just as quickly. For new users entering the space, I recommend starting with a small amount, buying in batches, and using a dollar-cost averaging strategy for more stability.

You also need to be mentally prepared to accept volatility. The crypto market is inherently volatile, especially sectors like DeFi and Memecoins, where price swings can be extreme. For those who are optimistic about long-term growth, they need to be able to hold on through the ups and downs.

What’s the Latest Book You’re Reading?

Tuao Master: What book are you reading right now?

CZ: Recently, I’ve been reading a book about Nvidia called The Nvidia Way. It’s really well written, and you can see how they started from scratch and built their ecosystem.

One Message for the Community

Tuao Master: Alright, I think that’s about it for today. Is there anything you’d like to say to the community?

CZ: Actually, just one thing: focus on the fundamentals and keep BUIDLing. Short-term speculation is fine, but you must assess the risks. We will also continue to invest and provide more support and services for the entire community.

CZ and Justin Sun Share Their Daily Routines and Exercise Habits

Justin Sun: The first question is, how does CZ spend a typical day?

CZ: I usually go to bed late and wake up late. When I get up, I check some information first. My daily schedule actually varies quite a bit. Most of the time, I work from bed because my back isn’t great. Around noon, I’ll go for a quick workout. If I have meetings in the afternoon, I attend them; if not, I go out for some exercise. Then it’s mostly meetings and meeting people. To be honest, life is pretty boring.

Justin Sun: So, aside from work, what’s your biggest source of entertainment?

CZ: I mainly do sports-related activities. Recently, I’ve been learning kitesurfing, which is when a big kite pulls you while you stand on a board and glide across the water. Aside from that, I don’t really have any other hobbies. How about you?

Justin Sun: Same here, I’ve also been going to bed late and waking up late recently, for a variety of reasons. I usually wake up around 11 AM and then spend pretty much the entire day in meetings. When I was younger and starting my company, my back was fine, but now it’s a big problem, haha. So I usually go for a run or hit the gym, mainly to keep my back in good shape. Overall, my daily routine is mostly meetings and meeting people — pretty similar to yours.

CZ: I’ve heard your girlfriend is an athlete, right?

Justin Sun: Haha, that’s still under wraps for now. Hopefully, there will be a good outcome in the future.。

CZ: OK, I guess it won’t stay a secret for too long, haha.

Giggle Academy: Digital Education for a Global Transformation

Justin Sun: I’ve noticed that you’ve been focusing a lot on education recently and have launched a new educational project called Giggle Academy. Ten years ago, I studied at Jack Ma’s Hupan University, and I feel that both youth education and entrepreneurial education are crucial for nurturing the next generation of talent. I’d like to ask, what are the future plans for Giggle Academy? Do you have any plans to focus on entrepreneurial education and help cultivate more entrepreneurs?

CZ: I think it’s like this. About a year ago, I seriously thought about one question: which of the things I can do right now will have the greatest positive impact on society? I considered many aspects, and in the end, I felt that education would have the biggest impact.

Our current education system has many issues. First of all, there are approximately 120 million people worldwide who have no access to education — they have no schools to attend. Among them, about seven to eight hundred million are adults who are illiterate and have no education. What’s even more concerning is that about two-thirds of these people are women, and they are mostly concentrated in poorer regions like Africa and Southeast Asia. In addition, there are another three to five hundred million children who cannot receive an education because there are simply no schools near where they live.

I believe that with the current technology, we can fully digitize all educational content and complete the teaching through an app. We don’t need traditional teachers or schools — just the internet and devices. I even did the math: for example, to create a highly gamified, engaging English course for first graders, it would cost around $1 million. If we want to create content for 12 years, that would be about $12 million, and considering 30 different subjects, the total investment would be around $300 million.

In other words, with $300 million, we could fully digitize 18 years’ worth of educational content and distribute it electronically. What’s more important is that this investment only needs to be made once, as the content for first-grade English won’t change frequently. Once it’s created, it can be spread and expanded infinitely, offering a very high return on investment.

What I’m seeking in return isn’t money, but social impact. Helping others gives me a sense of fulfillment and happiness. This project means a lot to me, which is why I’ve assembled a team to work on it. We started with first grade, but then we realized that first grade might be a bit late, so we decided to start teaching from the age of two. As soon as children begin to learn, we’ll start teaching them, all the way until they turn 18, and even beyond that if needed. The cost is essentially a one-time investment, but it can benefit millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of people. I believe this is an investment truly worth making.

I consider myself quite fortunate. Although I went through some rough times last year, it also allowed me to step back and retire. Now, I have plenty of time and sufficient resources. While I may not be particularly young, I’m not old either, and I still have things I can do. Not many people have this combination of conditions. That’s why I believe in one thing: If you can, you must — if you can do it, you must go ahead and do it.

So, I’m really happy working on this educational project. I usually have one or two meetings with the team each week, and their independent teams are responsible for pushing things forward. But every time I finish a meeting, I feel so happy because this project truly feels meaningful. I’ll continue to work on it. I believe that within three to five years, we can cover the entire 18 years of the education system, and it will be completely free.

This education system isn’t designed to get kids a university diploma, or even a high school graduation certificate. My goal is to help them find a job. I want to teach them a skill that allows them to get employed, and that’s it. So, this is the direction I really want to focus on. I’m deeply invested in this project, and I find it really enjoyable.

Justin Sun: Yes, I think this is a very big dream. When I was studying at Hupan University ten years ago, it was exactly when Alibaba went public in the U.S. At that time, President Jack Ma was particularly focused on entrepreneurial education. And I believe the vision of Giggle Academy is even bigger than that of Hupan University.

CZ: It’s a bit different, haha, Mr. Ma has always been very impressive, so I wouldn’t compare. But what I really want to do is start with education at the child stage, from two years old all the way up to 18. In fact, a 16-year-old can already start learning programming. I think what Jack Ma is doing is more advanced education, while we’re focusing on the more basic and early stages.

You just mentioned whether we should teach entrepreneurship. I believe it’s something that must be taught. We will also teach entrepreneurship, finance, emotional intelligence, negotiation skills, and how to handle difficult problems. These are things the current school system doesn’t teach, but they’re actually essential survival skills that everyone needs in society. We will definitely also teach about digital currencies and Web3. These are all areas we will cover.

How to Convince Governments to Support Blockchain: Efficiency as the Key Selling Point

Justin Sun: Recently, you’ve been meeting with the presidents of various countries quite frequently, including the memorandums of understanding that were signed not long ago. I’d like to ask, how do you see sovereign nations gradually supporting blockchain? And when meeting with each president, how do you persuade them to support blockchain?

CZ: I think there’s a very positive trend now — it’s them coming to us, rather than us going to them like we used to. In sales or BD, it’s generally a very passive approach. I prefer the “willing to engage” model because it has the highest success rate. When others come to you, it means their interest is already clear. On the other hand, if we go to them, the whole sales process will take much longer.

When you want to communicate with governments, especially at the presidential level, they don’t have much time to listen to you explain blockchain from scratch. So, the situation has changed now — they’re interested in learning about it themselves. For example, the U.S. has already expressed that they want to support blockchain more actively. Even people like Elon Musk are pushing for it, and government documents in the U.S. have mentioned using blockchain to improve governance efficiency. As a result, many other countries don’t want to fall behind the U.S. and instead want to push forward even faster.

I currently live in the UAE, and they came to me saying they wanted to do this. They knew I lived there, so they contacted me and said, “Let’s talk to CZ.” As a result, I’m now in contact with multiple governments, many of which have asked me to serve as an advisor and help them develop relevant regulatory policies.

For me, this is very meaningful. I also hope that countries will establish regulatory frameworks that are conducive to the development of the industry. I am willing to dedicate my time to these matters without compensation.

The next step is how governments can actually apply blockchain. The first direction is identity systems, specifically what we call DID (Decentralized Identifiers). With DID in place, the next step would be wallets, and we typically recommend wallets that we participate in and support, such as Trust Wallet.

Once DID and wallets are in place, where can this identity system be applied? For example, in visa applications, immigration management, opening bank accounts, land ownership registration, medical visits, academic certification, government procurement, and more. All of these can be digitized and decentralized through blockchain.

I’ve also been discussing the implementation of these solutions with many countries recently. Of course, I can’t execute these solutions on my own, so I’ll bring in many partners, including the projects we’ve invested in, to help these governments push for real-world applications.

I’m particularly passionate about this because it will allow blockchain to move beyond just the single use of “transactions” and expand into a broader range of practical applications. As these applications increase, the transaction volume will naturally rise as well.

As a major shareholder in one of the larger exchanges in the industry, I naturally stand to benefit as the industry grows. So, this is a win-win situation for both me personally and the entire industry. I’m very willing to invest my energy into this effort.

There’s another added benefit, and I’m not boasting — but when most countries are looking for partners in the blockchain industry, they usually think of me first. Of course, they’ll think of you too (laughs), but many of them are genuinely reaching out to me. You’re probably busier, while I have a bit more free time right now, so I can interact with them more frequently.

So, I believe the dynamics of the industry have changed. Now, many countries need us, and we also have the ability to support them.

Justin Sun: Yes, so I’d like to ask, from a global perspective, by region or culture, which countries’ governments do you think are the most friendly and proactive toward blockchain?

CZ: Actually, many countries are showing interest in this industry now. The countries I’ve been in contact with are not very numerous — although many countries reach out to me, I’ve only had in-depth conversations with about ten or twenty. After all, I can’t establish connections with hundreds of countries.

The country I’ve had the most contact with is, of course, the UAE, where I currently live. Their attitude toward the blockchain industry is very positive, and they are pushing it forward with great momentum.

Looking at the U.S., as a major power, its attitude toward blockchain is also becoming increasingly positive. Hong Kong is also a very positive example right now. Although their current regulatory terms are still a bit strict, you can clearly sense their willingness to change and open up.

Thailand and Malaysia are also very enthusiastic about blockchain, and Japan has always been a country that is relatively open to the industry. Singapore is currently at a moderate level — they are neither particularly aggressive nor conservative.

Additionally, countries like Ivory Coast in Africa and Pakistan, with whom we’ve recently signed cooperation agreements, are also very positive toward digital currencies.

Product Experience Issues and Improvement Suggestions for Binance Wallet

Nianan Cat Business School Representative: We have a question regarding the Binance wallet. IDO activities are now very active, and we’ve observed that many people in the community are spontaneously inviting their family and friends to participate.

However, there is an issue — many people sell the tokens as soon as they receive them, and the funds don’t stay on the chain for the long term. We believe that adding a component to the token claim interface that automatically adds BNB and new tokens to an LP (liquidity pool) trading pair could create a win-win situation and keep the funds on the BNB Chain.

Additionally, I believe you, CZ, are also a long-term user of the Binance wallet. Do you think the wallet is now fully developed? If not, what feature would you most like to see improved? Thank you.

CZ: Okay, first of all, I’m no longer responsible for the day-to-day operations of Binance, but the suggestion you made is really good, and I think they should consider adopting it immediately. Adding an LP trading pair option is very specific, direct, and constructive feedback.

Regarding the product experience, to be honest, I do think the Binance Web3 wallet is not very user-friendly. From a user experience perspective, it is indeed quite a bit behind some of the competitors. Our investment in this area hasn’t been enough, and competitors have accumulated many advantages over the past few years, so our team will have a hard time catching up in the short term.

However, Binance has a big advantage, and that’s its ecosystem. Many competitors don’t have their own chain or have stopped actively building, which means they can’t access the best projects for IDOs. But Binance is different. We have the foundation of a centralized exchange, a huge user base, and most importantly — long-term trust from our users. This is something competitors find hard to replicate.

Although the product experience is indeed lacking, for example, if you want to search for a popular token or find information on a hot project, it’s still difficult to find it in the wallet. But we have definitely seen improvements being made in the past few weeks. However, to be honest, there is still a gap compared to the competition.

I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement in this area. Thank you very much for the feedback, which reminded us that we need to optimize the product more quickly. We have a lot of work to do.

Is Memecoin a Liquidity Game or a Sustainable Narrative?

Jia Yin Xie: I’m Jia Yin Xie, the Mandarin lead at Bitget. Sun Ge was my former boss, and CZ, my big brother, is someone I really admire…

CZ (interrupting): Your future boss (laughs).

Jia Yin Xie: I’d like to ask both of you a question. As we all know, Memecoin is very popular right now. But I think there’s a question worth considering: How long can its liquidity actually last? Or, can the narrative of Memecoin be sustained in the long term? Or is it essentially just a game of liquidity? I’d love to hear both of your opinions on this.

Justin Sun: Okay, I think on the surface, it seems like anyone can launch a Memecoin, and many teams are doing so. But in reality, the Memecoins that have high market caps and are doing well all have dedicated teams behind them that are continuously working on their operations.

For example, Dogecoin, Pepe, and other representative Memecoins in our industry have been continuously operating their communities and managing content; it’s not just about launching the token and then walking away. On the other hand, we also see some failed Memecoins, like projects that are launched every day, with a market cap of $100,000 at launch, and then quickly crash — it’s a race to see who can sell first.

So, we sometimes joke that both project teams and traders need to “have a vision.” But the reality is, the ones with a vision are often the ones who get burned. In fact, I think it’s the opposite — successful projects must have a vision, and they need to operate the project well over the long term to attract more people. They must have quality IP, continuous content output, and a reliable team.

So, personally, I believe that the difficulty of Memecoins is no less than traditional projects; they also require careful work on content and narrative to truly stand out.

CZ: I think the Memecoin model is indeed very difficult. There are some good IPs, ideas, or cultural symbols that can stick around, like Dogecoin, which has lasted until now — totally beyond my expectations. The founders stopped caring a long time ago, and then Elon Musk took over. And from what I know, Elon Musk doesn’t actually own Dogecoin; he just thinks it’s interesting.

The biggest problem with Memecoins is that their sequence is different from traditional projects. They issue the token first, then go look for a business model, and then build the product. This is actually very unfavorable for sustainable development.

The traditional project path is that you first write a whitepaper, think through the plan, then issue the token to raise funds, and push forward according to the plan. But with Memecoins, they issue the token first, without a product in place, and it’s very easy to lose direction. Once the token is issued, the flexibility of the project is significantly reduced, and pivoting becomes difficult. So I’ve always advised: don’t rush to issue a token before finding Product-Market Fit.

You should first validate that the product actually has a market, and then the token can truly help drive growth. But the Memecoin model is different; it’s first about having a meme, and then forcing a use case, like payments or something else. But many of these use cases don’t hold up. It doesn’t have a real product backing it up, relying only on a cultural meme and community enthusiasm, which makes it hard to maintain long-term engagement. You really have to be “extra fun,” and the community resonance has to be strong enough for it to last.

So, not many will succeed with this model, and most won’t last long. In comparison, traditional projects that are product-driven have an easier time finding their place. I think Memecoin is a very hard model to succeed with. While it’s popular now, not many will stay.

The Fundraising Dilemma for Long-Term BUIDL Teams in a Turbulent Market

Clara: Hello everyone, I’m Clara from Cycle Network. We are a project incubated by Binance Labs. I’d like to continue the discussion on long-term BUIDL that CZ mentioned earlier. First of all, I’d like to thank you for always encouraging everyone to view this industry with a long-term and sustainable perspective.

However, I’d like to point out a very realistic and severe issue: in today’s relatively volatile market environment, many teams that genuinely want to build long-term are not receiving the support they need, such as facing difficulties in fundraising. I’d like to ask for your thoughts on this issue. Do you have any advice for teams like ours that are committed to BUIDLing?

CZ: Actually, I think that difficulty in fundraising is both a challenge and an opportunity.

We are now more inclined to invest in teams that can focus, settle down, and seriously build their products. Whenever we come across such projects, we are very willing to invest. Right now, many projects in the market are all about issuing tokens, creating token launch platforms, AI agents — just one AI agent can generate one in a minute, and then launch a token… For these projects that are just chasing trends and lack sustained investment, we’re not very interested.

On the other hand, teams that truly want to BUIDL long-term actually have an easier time raising funds now — it’s just that the way isn’t through issuing tokens, but rather by finding the right institutional partners. If you come to us at YZi Labs, we’d be more than happy to invest.

CZ: From an investment perspective, this is like investing in a bear market. Although technically this isn’t a bear market, this bull market isn’t exactly “bullish” either. But because of this, we actually believe that the current market environment is more suitable for investing — especially in teams that are still building through difficult times, which we will pay special attention to.

So, my advice is: don’t rush to issue tokens. There are still plenty of investors with capital, and while many retail investors are chasing Memecoins, institutional investors are still looking for projects with real value and long-term potential.

Additionally, although many people have strong opinions about VCs and VC-backed coins, we shouldn’t generalize. For example, the projects we’ve invested in at YZi Labs, such as Luna and Terra, we’re still holding them and haven’t dumped them. We are long-term investors and genuinely want the projects to succeed.

We’ll assist with designing token models based on the project’s needs, helping you create token mechanisms that are suitable for long-term development, not those structures that just pump and dump right after launch.

So, I believe that adversity is actually the best time to discover good projects. As long as you are willing to seek opportunities, we are also willing to extend a hand.

Clara: Yes, I’d like to add something. I’ve been listening to you talk about long-term BUIDLing, and you also mentioned important metrics like user numbers and transaction volume, which are key indicators of positive externalities.

I actually want to take this opportunity, with this microphone, to call on everyone to pay more attention to the teams that are genuinely focused on long-term development. Passion is not just a slogan — it really needs to be seen and supported by more people. I hope we can all work together to push the industry in a healthier direction.

How to Successfully Promote Your Product: Tips for Emerging BUIDLers

Audience: First of all, thank you both for today’s insightful sharing. CZ recently introduced a concept called “pay to reach.” I have two questions: First, if a new product emerges that is better than existing ones, how would you go about utilizing and promoting it? Second, what advice do you have for future BUIDLers? Thank you.

Justin Sun: Okay, actually, the questions from this audience member and the previous one really resonate with me.

Both TRON and Binance were actually launched through ICOs back in 2017. I distinctly remember that CZ wrote an article on Steemit at the time, and I was deeply impressed after reading it. He mentioned a point that is really valid: building a great blockchain product doesn’t necessarily require a lot of money.

Even in our time, even in 2017, many of the most successful projects were not necessarily the ones that raised the most funds. Instead, some of the teams that focused on doing things right and raised just a few million dollars managed to build great products. Ethereum, in its early days, also raised only a small amount of money. So, I think today’s BUIDLers should focus on the product, development, and user needs, rather than just focusing on fundraising.

Fundraising is of course important, but what matters more is the mindset. As long as you have enough, there’s no need to chase after what’s considered the “super big ICO.” Sometimes, there’s a misconception in the industry that you have to do a big ICO to be considered successful, and some even view the ICO itself as the entire project. I think this is a big misconception. Focusing on the product itself is the foundation of success.

CZ: My advice to BUIDLers is just one thing: Keep BUIDLING, continue building.

It may sound simple, but I want to emphasize two points. First, you should do what you truly love. If you’re passionate about something, it’s worth fully dedicating yourself to it. Second, you need endurance. Whether or not you can persevere is the key to determining whether a person or a project will succeed.

Whether it’s a bull market or a bear market, no matter how many setbacks you encounter along the way, we, this generation, have already persevered in this industry for over a decade, and we’re still striving. So, I want to tell the new generation of BUIDLers: If you have passion and can persist, you will go further.

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