What exactly is the MCP that even Open AI has bowed to? Did CZ hit the mark this time?
The wind of MCP has finally swept from Web2 to Web3. After becoming the protagonist in the AI industry, MCP quickly rose to fame, becoming one of the most talked-about technical standards in the past two months.
Why is it popular? Why is it important? And why did @cz_binance want to lay out MCP on BNB Chain at the first opportunity? Here are my thoughts.
1. What exactly is MCP? What is its relationship with large models and AI Agents?
In a nutshell, MCP is an open standard protocol that unifies the way AI models connect with the external world (data, tools, on-chain systems), serving as a universal interface that allows AI to truly "get things done."
I will use a set of simple metaphors to describe the relationships among the three:
1. Large models (like GPT, Claude): They are the smart brain, capable of understanding language and reasoning, but unable to directly manipulate the world.
2. AI Agent: They are the "virtual robots" that execute tasks, responsible for turning the brain's ideas into a series of actions.
3. MCP: It is the nervous system + universal adapter, connecting AI to various interfaces and data sources in the real world (on-chain data, APIs, contracts, databases, etc.).
The large model is responsible for "thinking," the AI Agent is responsible for "doing," and MCP is responsible for "connecting." Understanding the relationships among these three makes it easy to see why MCP is important.
MCP was proposed by Claude's parent company two years ago, and it gradually entered the mainstream view only in February of this year, exploding in March. The direct reason is that OpenAI also announced support for the MCP protocol, almost declaring it as the "industry standard."
This sudden popularity is not accidental; it reflects the increasingly evident ecological demand in the AI industry after experiencing the choice between "closed source vs. open source." After Claude announced the open sourcing of MCP and DeepSeek's strong rise, OpenAI had no choice but to set aside the pride of its "custom protocol" and turn to compatibility with MCP. The trend has come, and even a powerful entity like Open AI cannot reverse it.
The emergence of MCP marks the leap of AI applications from "being able to talk" to "being able to work." In the long run, it represents almost a paradigm shift in the operational model of the entire AI ecosystem.
2. CZ's layout of MCP: Is it just chasing a trend? It may be much more than that.
Why did CZ promote the landing of MCP on BNB Chain at the first opportunity? On the surface, it seems to be "embracing the AI craze," but in reality, it is a long-term layout for building a native public chain for AI Agents. There might be several layers of thinking behind this:
1. From the competition for traffic entry to the race for the Agent ecosystem
In the Web3 world, whoever controls the user's "first touchpoint" holds the power of traffic distribution, pricing discourse, and business closure.
The entry point in Web2 is the App Store, while the entry point in Web3 might be the operating environment of Agents.
MCP is the key infrastructure for this environment. Through standardized calls, BNB Chain can facilitate countless interactions between AI Agents and on-chain tools, becoming the "habitat" for AI Agents.
This is exactly CZ's consistent logic: not just to be an exchange, but to be a platform for traffic and assets.
2. Locking in the developer ecosystem, lowering the threshold, and creating a "high ground for Agent construction"
In the future, AI Agents are likely to become the mainstream application form in Web3, and what developers care about most is: how to quickly, safely, and with low barriers build Agents.
MCP addresses these issues. The official suite of development tools provided by BNB Chain to support developers means that a large number of AI native DApps will grow on BNB Chain in the future.
If Solana seized the Meme high point through casino logic, then CZ is capturing the mindset of more AI developers in the future. You send Memes, I send Agents. It’s a competition of who has a higher strategic vision and sharper insight.
3. Seizing the key opportunity for deep integration of AI and blockchain
The combination of AI and blockchain is not new; many past and current projects have lingered more on narratives and hype. Technically speaking, MCP provides a truly feasible way to combine: through protocol standards, it can connect AI's intelligent invocation capabilities with on-chain execution capabilities, forming a closed loop.
From these points, one cannot help but admire CZ's strategic intuition, just as when Binance was not just a matching engine but a complete system involving fiat currency entry, Launchpad, BSC, etc.
This time is no different; if CZ wants to get involved, then he will set standards, create underlying tools, and become the most comprehensive connector.
CZ is also chasing trends, but more fundamentally, he prefers to define trends. This is the greatest significance of this matter.
