Binance Exchange is celebrating its 6 years anniversary.
The firm’s journey highlights that filled with both highs and lows.

Top digital asset service provider Binance is celebrating its 6 years anniversary today. The cryptocurrency exchange has achieved so much within this time including amassing up to 140 million global users as revealed to Crypto-News Flash via a Press Release.

Binance Anniversary: The Journey

A trip down memory lane shows how Binance began operations as a crypto-to-crypto entity six years ago after successfully raising $15 million worth of digital assets.

The now-global Binance exchange was debuted by Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao in 2017 with only five tokens and operations in two languages. According to Zhao, Binance began with no marketing team and even borrowed another company’s customer support team. Markedly, the crypto exchange was initially established in China but two months after it began operations, it hit a regulatory roadblock.

In September 2017, the Chinese government imposed regulations on cryptocurrency trading and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) projects.

Consequently, ICO projects had to make a refund to investors who had backed their projects before that time. This led to a significant drop in the prices of several ICO tokens. Sadly, some of these tokens were listed on Binance. Based on the explanation offered by CZ, these tokens plummeted below their ICO prices and there were no funds to pay investors but the team came together and used their funds.

Today, Binance supports over 600 tokens and operates in more than 40 languages. The exchange has received licenses and approvals from over 17 countries to offer its products. The exchange’s CEO confirmed that altogether, Binance.US has 43 state Money Transmitter Licenses (MLTs). Last month, Binance expanded its presence in Kazakhstan by launching a local exchange.

Binance survived the crypto winter of last year which shook the entire crypto industry and left many crypto platforms like lender Celsius Network, Three Arrows Capital , FTX, BlockFi and many others bankrupt. So far, Binance has clarified that it had no exposure to these bankrupt entities even though it had previously invested in some of them.

Binance Face Regulatory Scrutiny

The recorded successes does not discount the numerous challenges and regulatory scrutiny that Binance has come under in many regions. The most recent is the enforcement action levied against the leading exchange by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The 136-page complaint from the regulator contains accusations about breaking securities rules, misleading investors and regulators, mishandling customer funds, flouting basic Know-Your-Customer (KYC) rules and allowing Americans to improperly open accounts and trade on the Binance U.S platform. Cryptocurrencies like SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, SAND, AXS, CHZ, FLOW, ICP, NEAR, VGX, DASH, NEXO, ATOM, ALGO, and COTI on Binance were also classified as securities.

Similarly, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued CZ and three other entities that are affiliated to Binance for several violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ July 14, 2023 7:10 pm