Binance Highlights Crypto’s Role in Financial Inclusion at The WEF in Davos

Empowering Global Finance: Blockchain's Revolutionary Role Beyond Cryptocurrency

From its outset, blockchain technology hasn’t only been to record transactions on a digital ledger. Far beyond that, blockchain enables decentralized finance systems that could revolutionize financial services, break down barriers to banking, and offer economic empowerment to the globe’s unbanked population.

While blockchain’s potential is vast, it is cryptocurrency that has become the most visible application, connecting individuals to financial opportunities previously out of reach. This point is easy to overlook in the quest for quick crypto profits – yet, at a recent closely watched event, a noted figure in the space reminded the crypto community of the digital ledger’s potential for economic change at the macro and micro levels.

Crypto and the Changing Narrative

Among the distinguished speakers at this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, was Binance CEO Richard Teng. Binance is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange.

While at Davos, Teng observed that the narrative surrounding cryptocurrency “has changed quite drastically.” In support of this observation, Teng reported hearing positive sentiments toward crypto from corporate and political leaders in Davos.

Teng wasn’t there just to observe and contribute to the conversation, however. Indeed, Binance’s chief executive made waves when he revealed that his platform’s users collectively saved around $1.75 billion in remittance fees, based on $26 billion worth of remittances facilitated by Binance from 2022 to 2024.

This feat is emblematic of the “drastically” changing cryptocurrency industry narrative that Teng and Binance are helping to shape in the 2020s. As Teng explained, “Remittances are an important use case for crypto that directly serves our mission,” as Binance supports financial inclusion by facilitating cross-border transactions “for migrant workers at incredibly low-, or even no-, cost without having to wait days for the funds to arrive.”

In other words, while Bitcoin surpassing $100,000 might capture the headlines, it’s the blockchain’s benefits to economically challenged individuals and families that will fundamentally shift the narrative. Teng cited an inspiring, real-world example when in Kenya, where a “blockchain-powered climate insurance pilot delivered preemptive cash payments to rural regions before drought conditions struck.”

Thus, there’s a direct tie-in between financial inclusion and the blockchain’s life-changing potential. “Using satellite data and smart contracts, the program [in Kenya] slashed transaction costs by 75% and cut processing times by 90%, enabling farmers to protect their livelihoods,” Teng related.

Another example can be found in rural India, where Teng reported a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) creating a “distributed water management system that provided clean water access for 45,000 people.” There, the blockchain’s financial benefits took on new dimensions as the water management platform “incentivized participation and created 440 informal local jobs, 30% of which went to women.”

Opportunities Everywhere, for Everyone

Of course, cryptocurrency’s widely cast net of financial inclusion doesn’t only encompass the world’s emerging economies. Irrespective of borders and regions, Teng pointed out, cryptocurrency is “creating roles that don’t require elite degrees or urban privilege” – and the roles can be financially rewarding, with blockchain developers earning an average of $179,000 per year.

And just as the event in Davos wasn’t just about tariffs and trade, crypto’s capacity for change transcends cheap and fast remittances – though that’s certainly central to blockchain-based real-world problem solving. Indeed, Teng’s announcement at the WEF bolsters the growing case for digital assets as agents of reform when all too many traditional transactional pathways are inefficient, impractical, or simply inaccessible.

The proof, ultimately, is in the results that crypto can achieve where conventional finance falls short. Consider how the Binance Pay platform facilitated the distribution of relief funds to flood victims in Brazil – or, for that matter, how more than half a million female users sent over $4 billion worth of domestic and international cryptocurrency payments last year.

In all corners, Binance’s CEO, insists, there’s evidence of crypto movement combating financial exclusion. “Digital assets,” according to Teng, were “conceived as tools to democratize financial access” and now “offer a lifeline for the 1.4 billion unbanked and billions more around the globe underserved by the incumbent systems.”

If technology-fearful banks reward the economically privileged with exclusive perks, decentralized finance can fill the gap with tools to enabling loans, savings, insurance, and investment opportunities. Clearly, the grassroots phenomenon of crypto and the blockchain has come a long way.

In that vein, Teng represented and advanced the spirit of financial inclusion that the blockchain fundamentally stands for. Loudly and clearly, the truth was told at Davos and heard globally: the crypto movement is transforming finance as we know it, and you’re all invited to join.

"THIS ARTICLE IS NOT WRITTEN BY MC EDITORIAL"