Crypto Exchange Binance Product Manager Discusses AI, Supercycles, and What Excites Him Today

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Absolutely no one can say for sure what artificial intelligence (AI) will do. It may be the nudge humanity needs to solve its most intractable problems, or the tool that allows us to destroy ourselves. For now, however, the AI ​​concerns are a bit more prosaic. Should your crypto firm deploy AI to reduce costs? Can we trust this machine to audit a financial contract?

This article is excerpted from The Node newsletter, which will send out two daily editions during the Consensus 2023 conference featuring the biggest news from the event. You can sign up for the full newsletter here or get IRL or virtual tickets for Consensus 2023 here.

Mayur Kamat, product manager at Binance, is a long-time tech industry veteran. He has seen multiple trends take hold and transform the world: the rise of mobile, cryptography and now AI. CoinDesk spoke to him during Consensus to get an idea of ​​how the world’s largest crypto exchange plans to use AI and other aha moments in tech.

Why do you think crypto startups should start using AI in their operations?

What we see with the recent pace of developments with generative AI, every company in the world will have to include it in their roadmap or else run the risk of being outclassed by existing and future competitors. Crypto startups are no exception. The good news is that crypto startups are typically small, nimble, and hungry.

Could you tell me about the product development cycle for Bicasso? When did you first have the idea and how long did it take to develop it?

It was pretty quick. The idea started around November 2022 and by December 2022 we had a working prototype. We launched a little MVP [minimum viable product] and the response from the community blew us away. So now we will continue to expand the scope and reach. Bicasso is an experiment to explore the boundaries between Web3 and [generative] AI. If AI can create amazing works of art, how to differentiate it from other generation AIs and human works of art? How do you establish ownership and authenticity in this new world? NFTs can play a huge role in this space.

Regarding the Binance product development cycle, we do not have a standard model. We have teams that take care of zero to one product like Bicasso or Binance Tax. Others make small improvements to the user experience. And many teams are working to improve know-your-customer (KYC) and compliance. They all have different requirements and follow the process that allows us to be fast but also flexible.

Does AI pose a risk to crypto at large, given that there are countless incentives to mine crypto networks using AI and far fewer to use AI as a hacker computer science ?

AI is a transformative technology, similar to what the Internet was. It will be used for both positive and negative. Will it provide new tools for people who might misuse this technology? Yes. Will it enable new scenarios for Web3? Absolutely. We need the right players to adopt technology faster and stay ahead of the game.

Do you remember your first “aha” moment when you had an epiphany about the power/significance of technology?

I’m old, so it’s been a while. [laughs] Growing up in India, buying music, especially English music, was very difficult and expensive. I remember the first time I put in a CD I got from a friend and used an MP3 ripper to make [an] Mp3 out of it. The fact that music can now be digitized and sent to anyone in the world in minutes blew me away.

I had a similar epiphany on Web3 recently. My assistant sends a significant portion of her salary home to the Philippines. Every month, she waits in line for an hour at a local exchange office and pays 8% to send money to her daughter. I showed him how to do it via crypto and the fees associated with it. And she had the same expression as me when I made the MP3. We live in magical times.

Growing up in Washington [state]how aware or proud were people of Microsoft?

Microsoft was my first job. I joined as an intern and loved it so much that I never interviewed another company in my senior year and joined them straight after grad school. Microsoft in 2003 was cutting edge technology. My grandmother in India knew Bill Gates. As an intern, I was able to go to his house and spend time with him. I felt on top of the world when I was hired there as one of the first Product Managers (PM). It’s still an amazing company to work for. Some of my friends who joined me are still working there after 20 years.

I had a similar feeling when I joined Binance as a Product Manager. My grandmother sadly passed away a few years ago, but if she was alive she would have heard of CZ [CEO Changpeng Zhao].

As someone with a career in the field, would you say crypto is part of the broader tech industry?

Crypto is as technological as it gets. It is a new platform to encapsulate wealth and enable the freedom of money. It takes the core cryptographic principles that enable modern security and commerce and expands on them to create new scenarios. Would you ask a similar question to someone who works in AI?

What is the least discussed and most important technology of 2023?

I don’t think stablecoins are getting the attention they deserve. Large-scale stablecoins will have an impact similar to email. It makes money across borders like emails do cross-border communications.

Do you have a favorite Web3 application?

I’m a big fan of PancakeSwap. It’s a fully-featured decentralized exchange (DEX) but still fun and playful.

What do you think of the Solana phone or the idea of ​​something like that?

I worked on mobile for a while. I helped create early versions of Android and worked with global phone makers. Hardware is largely a low-margin business for anyone whose name doesn’t start with Apple. It is also a very slow business. It takes two years from concept to use by users. Two years is decades in the crypto world. That said, I’m always curious when someone does something out of the ordinary. So excited to see how [the Solana phone] do.

Do you think there is an end goal for technology?

Growing and pushing boundaries is what makes humans different from other species. We evolved to have intelligence and are now pushing the boundaries of what intelligence means to machines. The world of tomorrow will be different from yesterday. It may or may not be better, depending on who you ask. It will make us uncomfortable, and that’s where the best innovation happens

In three words or less, describe your vision for crypto in the United States

Binance doesn’t operate in the US and it’s been a while since I left the US, so I really don’t have much to say here than the average layman.

Something you want to mention?

I would love your viewers feedback on Binance products. We release something new every day (#BinanceBuild on Twitter) and feedback makes us better!

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