Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, recently celebrated its sixth anniversary. The platform, which began as a crypto-to-crypto exchange with 5 tokens in 2 languages, today supports over 600 tokens in over 40 languages and serves over 140 million users globally.
The company was founded six years ago after raising $15 million in cryptocurrencies. Despite early hurdles, including as a ban on crypto exchanges and ICOs in China in September 2017, Binance has grown rapidly. The company’s commitment to protecting its users was proved when it used $6 million of its own assets to pay users harmed by the ban, which was more than 40% of its treasury at the time.
Binance’s rise has not been without its difficulties. In 2019, the firm faced heightened regulatory scrutiny, prompting the launch of Binance.US to service the US market in a fully regulated manner. Binance.US now has 43 state Money Transmitter Licences. Binance has licences and registrations in 17 countries throughout the world, demonstrating its dedication to compliance and regulation.
The company has also survived two “crypto winters” periods of market slump in 2018 and 2022. Despite these downturns, Binance continued to develop, opening Binance Launchpad in January 2019 and maintaining conservative financial management to weather market changes.
Looking ahead, Binance sees traditional finance companies like BlackRock, Citadel, and Fidelity entering the crypto field as validation of the business. The company also sees further growth in DeFi and expects regulatory clarity in the crypto market to increase.