Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has told the cryptocurrency community that 99% of those that dabble in crypto are not prepared to self-custody their assets and are more likely to lose it.
This paints a grim outlook for the overall level of awareness and understanding of the sector, but it also points to a problem that can be addressed and remedied.
Zhao has been a long-term proponent of consumers storing their own cryptocurrency and published a seminal article on how to do so in 2020.
However, Zhao has also urged caution on the part of investors who often end up too trigger-happy and looking for the next “big thing”. This comes at a time when an increasing number of people are beginning to perceive crypto investment as a high-risk asset.
“For most people, for 99% of people today, asking them to hold crypto on their own, they will end up losing it”, Zhao tweeted.
He reminded investors that holding crypto in wallets is not without its risks, and that people actually end up losing more as part of a self-custodied wallet than they did on a centralized exchange.
“Most people are not able to back up their security keys; they will lose the device…”, Zhao explained. There will be no proper encryption on their backup or chalk it down on a piece of paper for someone else to see, he continued.
Different solutions call for different risk profiles, he explained, adding that consumers need to be constantly catching themselves up to what fresh security challenges emerge.
The problem is easily resolved by trusting a centralized exchange. Presently, Zhao has no stronger preference that he means to enact as a business model. If more people wish to switch to a decentralized exchange, Zhao will back this move as well.
He did offer a glimmer of hope though. “If we can have a way to allow people to hold their own assets in their own custody securely and easily, that 99% of the general population can do it, centralized exchanges will not exist or probably don't need to exist, which is great”, Zhao concluded.
Looking for your next crypto casino? Check out: Bitcasino, Gamb.co or FortuneJack.