Binance Announces Open Stablecoin Project Venus

Binance, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has announced “Venus,” an open-source blockchain project that is focused on developing local stablecoins all over the world.

In an announcement published earlier this morning, the exchange stated that thanks to its current public chain technology, Binance Chain, it is poised to launch a global currency ecosystem. It also pointed to the fact that it has a wide user base, and it has continued to maintain adequate compliance measures globally.

Touting the blockchain project, Binance added that it has already been in the process of actively seeking partnerships with companies, tech giants, governments, and other projects with the cryptocurrency and blockchain spaces to develop a currency system that will have benefits for both developing and developed economies.

Per the announcement, the exchange is hoping for the project to help build a new open alliance and sustainable community of developers that consists of partners who already have influence around the world. Binance added that it would be working with its existing infrastructure and experience with various regulatory frameworks to develop a compliance and risk control system, while also building multi-dimensional cooperation for the Venus project to work with.

Speaking with news medium CoinDesk on the project, Binance co-founder Yi He said that the company believes stablecoins will render traditional fiat currencies around the world obsolete shortly.

He added, “We hope to achieve a vision, that is, to reshape the world financial system, allow countries to have more tangible financial services and infrastructures, protect their financial security and increase the economic efficiency of countries.”

As can be expected, many industry insiders and news outlets have begun to see some lines of comparison between Venus and Libra, the stablecoin project being developed by social media giant Facebook.

At this point, it’s not difficult to see. Apart from the fortuitous name Venus, the announcement itself seemed to have taken a dig at Facebook, as Binance went on to point out its safety and compliance record. It seems someone’s ready for some beef.

However, the most significant comparison line would have to be in how Venus aims to operate. Just as it is with Libra, Venus seems to be aiming for a change in the current global monetary framework, bringing a new meaning to money and how transactions such as stock trading and settlements are being made.

However, while Libra will be focused on cross border payments and settlements, the Venus announcement leads to believe that it will be a stablecoin community where developers can improve their products and get access to an enabling environment, with proper compliance, technical support, and all the cooperation required.

They’re not the same, but the objective is quite clear; bring a shock to the perception and accessibility of money.

It also begs the question of whether Venus truly can compete with Libra. Given that Facebook has way more users than Binance across all its platforms (WhatsApp, Instagram, and others), the smart money will be on the latter for greater success, assuming that both projects get cleared by regulators to proceed into development.