Bringing the Global Crypto and Blockchain Communities Together: Highlights from Binance Blockchain Week 2023

The recently concluded Binance Blockchain Week 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey showcased the growing strength of the Web3 ecosystem, irrespective of price movements. The conference brought together key players from the crypto industry, including Trust Wallet, a decentralized Web3 wallet provider that was acquired by Binance in 2018.

Trust Wallet, often referred to as “the wallet arm of Binance,” surprised attendees when Binance announced its own Web3 wallet during the event. Trust Wallet CEO Eowyn Chen, a former vice president at Binance, clarified that while Binance focuses on the centralized ecosystem, Trust Wallet works towards the decentralized ecosystem. Chen emphasized that Trust Wallet maintains neutrality and can collaborate with anyone in the crypto industry, believing that independence is crucial for its mission and culture.

Trust Wallet was born in 2017 during the initial coin offering (ICO) craze, with the aim of providing an accessible mobile wallet. Chen explained that Trust Wallet was the only developer-focused extension wallet available at the time. The Web3 wallet focused on onboarding users and developers to the decentralized blockchain world.

During Binance Blockchain Week Istanbul, Trust Wallet CEO Eowyn Chen spoke with Cointelegraph about the challenges of solving security issues in the Web3 ecosystem. Chen highlighted that compared to fixing user experience, addressing security vulnerabilities is more complex. Scammers are a major contributor to security issues, capitalizing on social pressures to influence users to ignore security warnings. Trust Wallet’s security team has observed the increasing sophistication of scams and has begun providing customer support to guide users who have fallen victim.

Preventing scams and fraud is a community issue that requires education, according to Chen. She stressed that it takes time and effort to educate people and that the whole industry needs to work together to improve education. Chen also noted that the smaller scale of new Web3 startups poses a security challenge, with many projects opting against security audits or choosing less rigorous providers to save money and avoid delays.

In her keynote address, Chen emphasized that trust is the best user retention strategy in the bear market. Due to the open nature of the Web3 ecosystem, user retention is critical, and competition has increased significantly. However, Trust Wallet has managed to build trust with its users, resulting in steady growth even during the bear market. Trust Wallet has seen a 60% increase in total downloads over the past two years, surpassing 70 million downloads in total.

Chen believes that the Web3 industry’s readiness for the next billion users depends on the utility and use cases it offers. She posed the question of whether Web3 provides enough value and use case scenarios that entice users to give it a try. Chen stressed that building trust, handling challenges, and making users feel comfortable are crucial to retaining users and onboarding the next billion.

When asked about her favorite thing about Web3, Chen highlighted two factors. Firstly, she sees blockchain’s potential to become the value transfer system for the internet, complementing the free transfer of information that the internet provides. Secondly, she believes in the idea of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and tokenized ownership, which can provide access to more people and create real value for society.

Overall, Binance Blockchain Week 2023 demonstrated the growth and potential of the Web3 ecosystem, with Trust Wallet playing a significant role in fostering decentralization and building trust among users.