Privacy is not the core feature of Bitcoin — KuCoin CEO
AmidKuCoin exchange preparing to adopt mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, the company’s CEO argued that privacy is not the most important feature of Bitcoin (BTC).
“When it comes to the purpose of Bitcoin creation, I think privacy is just one of its features,” KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu told Cointelegraph in an interview on July 4.
Instead of privacy, the core benefit of Bitcoin is a unit of exchange, which allows holders to hedge against recessions, Lyu said. The CEO mentioned that Bitcoin was created after the 2008 financial crisis, which was triggered by the United States subprime mortgage crisis. “These events led to the birth of Bitcoin,” Lyu noted.
While some may believe that overly strict KYC practices are not good for users as they may limit one’s privacy, the KuCoin CEO believes that such policies are more useful than not, as they improve the security of users’ funds.
“KYC is aimed to protect the assets of the public and to ensure that assets are protected on two different levels,” Lyu said, adding:
The cryptocurrency industry will be increasingly interacting with the physical world, which is why compliance is necessary, the KuCoin CEO went on to say.
“So in essence, in the whole development cycle of crypto, I would say that KYC, it is a stage that is inevitable, and it is very healthy as well,” Lyu added.
KuCoin officially announced in late June that it would be introducing mandatory KYC checks for all new users on its platform starting from July 15, 2023. Without completing KYC, newly registered users will not be able to access KuCoin’s products and services. At the same time, existing non-KYC users will still be able to trade, but will be restricted from depositing new funds.
The new KYC restrictions at KuCoin are
Read more on cointelegraph.com
