Binance Grows by 30% Amidst U.S. Legal Resolutions

• Binance User Base Grows by 30% in 2023
• Binance's End-of-Year Report
• Expansion Beyond Exchange Products
• Increased Spending on Compliance
• Regulatory Liaison Team Activity

Binance User Base Grows by 30% in 2023

In 2023, Binance, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, experienced a significant growth in its user base by 30%, according to CEO Richard Teng. This growth demonstrates the company's resilience amid regulatory settlements in the United States and the stepping down of its founder, Changpeng CZ Zhao.

Binance's End-of-Year Report

In the disclosed end-of-year report, Teng highlighted that the net inflows remained sturdy, with a continued steady inflow of new users. This follows Zhao's guilty plea, where Binance agreed to a penalty of $4.3 billion for breaching U.S. banking regulations. Notably, the growth was not restricted to Binance's core exchange products.

Expansion Beyond Exchange Products

Additional services offered by Binance, including Binance Pay, Binance Earn, and its peer-to-peer platform, all noted increases in their usage. Teng also underscored strong interest from institutional investors. By the end of 2023, Binance had added 40 million accounts, bringing the total to 170 million.

Increased Spending on Compliance

In 2023, the company spent $213 million on compliance, marking a 35% increase from the previous year. Binance enhanced its monitoring of wash trading activities on the exchange and NFT marketplaces. It also implemented an internal case management system for transaction oversight and underwent a security audit, which was finalized in December.

The future compliance cost is expected to rise significantly as Binance has committed to financing a U.S. government-approved compliance monitor for the next five years.

Regulatory Liaison Team Activity

In the same year, Binance's regulatory liaison team managed approximately 60,000 requests from global law-enforcement agencies and conducted 120 training sessions.

CEO Teng expressed confidence in the longevity of the company, stating that Binance is built to exist for not just years, but decades.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker