CZ, CEO of Binance
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) claimed in a blog post that all projects within the Binance ecosystem operate independently from each other to some extent. CZ outlined that no person nor entity can affect CoinMarketCap’s new ranking system for exchanges, which placed Binance at the first spot.
After Binance acquired the data tracking company CoinMarketCap in April, both organizations launched a new ranking system for exchanges dubbed Web Traffic Factor. By combining different factors such as page views and unique visitor count, it operates in a scoring system where the top platform will always receive 1,000 points. For the first month, Binance took the first spot.
Almost immediately, the community reacted by inserting doubts on whether or not the decision was impartial. However, as CryptoPotato reported at the time, Binance was indeed the leading cryptocurrency exchange by several components, including monthly visitors.
Earlier today, CZ shared a blog post attempting to clear the air regarding the involvement from Binance in all projects owned by the company, including CoinMarketCap. He begins by explaining that although each team within the Binance ecosystem operates “relatively independent” from each other, they still have multiple goals and are reporting to a well-established hierarchy.
CZ added that since his firm owns CMC, he does “have some influence” but does not dictate how the data tracking company works. He refuted the insinuations that he, Binance, or any other exchange can ever influence the Web Traffic Factor rankings:
“Our neutrality principles are simple. At no time will Binance.com (or any other exchange) be “manually” fixed into a position, ever. We will always strive to use a combination of metrics to achieve the most trusted data and rankings for users. And if Binance.com ranks first, it ranks first, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. There is no manual tweaking of any ordering for any exchange.”
In late April, CZ asked the community in a tweet about what they would like to see improved on CMC. Some people questioned (again) his exact motives and involvement with the project, and CZ addressed them now in the blog post:
“Should I not tweet about CMC to be seen as more distant or “independent”? Well, get over it. We bought it. You can safely assume I will continue to tweet heavily about CMC, just like I will continue to do so for Binance, BNB, Trust Wallet, WazirX, and all of the teams and projects in the Binance ecosystem.”
His initial question to the community received lots of responses, clearly concluding that the exchange ranking and fake volumes were the predominant issues. Therefore, CZ explained now that he urged the CMC team to come up with a better and simplified solution. Hence, came the Web Traffic Factor.
Featured image courtesy of CNN