In a recent dialogue with CounterParty TV, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the former CEO of Binance, discussed the unanticipated emergence of Chinese memecoins on the BNB Chain, elaborating on how Aster’s innovative hidden orders provide significant strategic advantages compared to Hyperliquid.
The viral trend of BNB Chain’s Chinese memecoins can be traced back to CZ’s casual Mid-Autumn Festival tweet encouraging the community to share their best memes. The response was overwhelming, with users contributing moon-themed creations, including “Zhao Chang’e”, a clever wordplay that references both Zhao’s name and a deity from Chinese folklore.
Reflecting on the organic growth of this meme phenomenon, Zhao remarked:
“It wasn’t planned. It just slowly evolved into that. Everything I tweet, they turn into a meme. At some point I said, screw that. I’m just going to tweet freely.”
In just a few weeks, up to five BNB Chain memes have recorded market capitalizations ranging from $100 million to $500 million, capturing the interest of traders from Solana. Zhao noted that BNB traders generally exhibit a tendency to hold onto assets longer, a stark contrast to the faster pace of trading often seen in Solana’s meme culture.
Zhao stated:
“They tend to be more holders. They don’t go up and down the next day.”
BNB vs Solana: A Comparative Analysis
Addressing criticisms of BNB as a closed ecosystem, Zhao highlighted its openness compared to Solana. “Binance lists tokens from every blockchain, including meme coins. Trust Wallet supports BNB Chain and other networks, while some Solana services like Phantom do not support BNB,” he pointed out.
He attributed Solana’s focus on memes partly to legal challenges facing genuine utility tokens during the previous administration. Concerned about SEC lawsuits, many developers have leaned into creating meme coins due to their purported lack of utility. Zhao articulated this concern succinctly:
“If you launch a real project with a utility token, you’re going to get a lawsuit from SEC. Meme coins, we just declared there’s no value, there’s no utilities, just for fun.”
Aster’s Competitive Edge Over Hyperliquid
Zhao also discussed his investment in Aster, emphasizing the pressing need for order privacy within trading. He argued that Hyperliquid’s public on-chain order book presents a critical disadvantage for serious traders who require confidentiality. “Every single trader on Wall Street I talked to do not want other people to see their orders in real time. If you know exactly how another person is going to trade, there’s always one way to trade against them for them to lose money,” he explained.
This emphasis on privacy spurred a surge of project inquiries to Zhao after he highlighted the issue, prompting Aster to incorporate hidden orders in its functionality. This innovation subsequently attracted investments from Binance Labs and other privacy-centered DEX projects.
Without sufficient privacy measures, traders run the risk of their strategies being reverse-engineered and exploited. While Zhao acknowledged that Hyperliquid might add privacy features in the future, he noted that exchanges often compete on multiple fronts, and that a comprehensive approach is vital.
“The protection and management of users’ interests and error handling are critical,” he remarked. Looking into the future, Zhao is optimistic that perpetual DEXs could potentially match the trading volumes of centralized exchanges (CEX) soon.
He concluded with a forward-looking statement about the integration of on-chain solutions:
“In 20, 30, 50 years out, everything will be on-chain. But in the interim, if there’s a big rush of traditional users, CEX will get better. Afterwards it will slowly slip into DEXes.”
