During the World Economic Forum (WEF) currently taking place in Davos, Switzerland, crypto billionaire and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), took part in a roundtable discussion. CZ shared his take on the future of the crypto space, banks and the next big three targets for the crypto industry.
Among those targets (or next big things) are widely spread crypto payments and AI using cryptocurrencies.
Three next big things in crypto, per Binance's CZ
During the roundtable, CZ stated that two major products produced by the crypto space have proven popular on a large scale already – crypto exchanges and stablecoins. Those are “huge businesses” at the moment, he said.
HOT Stories Morning Crypto Report: Ripple Legend Co-Signs Binance Twist, 'Digital Silver' Litecoin Raises Halving Alarm, XRP Price Enters 'Crocodile' ZoneXRP Hits ‘Extreme Fear’ After 19% DropU.Today Crypto Review: Ethereum (ETH) Loses 30-Day Progress, Shiba Inu's (SHIB) End of Bears; Bitcoin's (BTC) Last Recovery ChanceU.Today Crypto Digest: Strategy (MSTR) Buying Bitcoin Again, Bitmine Adds $108 Million Worth of Ethereum, XRP Price Flashes Major Warning
When asked for the next big frontiers for crypto in the future, Zhao revealed three things that are going big next.
.@cz_binance on what’s working in crypto - and what’s next - at @wef Davos 🔥
What's proven at scale: exchanges & stablecoins.
The next frontier:
> State-level tokenization of assets
> Crypto as the invisible payment rail
> AI agents transacting autonomously, using crypto as… pic.twitter.com/PG3eoNBMRV
The first one is the tokenization of assets on the state level. CZ said that he has spoken to many governments over the past few years about that. If some states’ assets are tokenized and put on-chain, this way, governments will be able to be the first to realize profits and help develop that industry further.
The second potentially big thing mentioned by CZ is crypto payments. So far, consumers use crypto-to-fiat bridges when they pay with a crypto card, which converts the payment into fiat currency. In the future, crypto payments are going to become “pretty big,” CZ believes.
The third frontier is AI, where crypto is going to be used as a native crypto by AI agents. He named crypto and blockchain “the most native technology for AI agents.” When AI agents start doing things for people, they will make autonomous payments — not using bank cards but cryptocurrencies, according to CZ.
You Might Also Like
Tue, 01/20/2026 - 20:16 Coinbase Boss Doubles Down on $1 Million Bitcoin Price Prediction ByAlex Dovbnya
Physical banks to become less popular: CZ
CZ also predicted that over the next 10 years or so, traditional brick-and-mortar banks will decrease significantly. People will prefer online banks and will choose to use physical banks much less frequently.
CZ reminded his co-speakers that, 25 years ago, ING launched the first online bank, and now there is crypto and e-KYC (know your customer), which are making the shift to online banking much faster.
.@cz_binance at @wef: "over time, people will have less need to visit physical banks."
ING pioneered online banking 25 years ago — now crypto + e-KYC are accelerating the shift.
Banks remain important, but the space is being redefined. Watch closely. 👀 pic.twitter.com/c95POSOBw8
While CZ is positive that banks will not disappear completely, since they perform several important functions, the need for users to go to physical banks will substantially drop.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
