Last summer, Binance, the largest digital asset exchange in the world, announced a partnership with “BAM Trading Services” to launch crypto trading services for users in the United States. That same week, Binance updated its terms of service to exclude “any U.S. person.”
Binance explained:
“If you have an account on Binance.com, you cannot log into your account through Binance.US because these are considered two separate exchanges. With the establishment of Binance.US, our firm must submit and comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations. Therefore, each platform is considered different and require separate account registration processes.”
Compliance in the US is rather convoluted, and rigorous, as there are both state and national regulatory demands. Today, Binance.US operates across much of the country with the exception of 12 individual states where the exchange has yet to be licensed.
The move was clearly part of an ongoing strategy of adapting to a regulatory environment where compliance with national law is paramount – especially AML/KYC rules. Binance.US was soon registered with FinCEN but the tech stack was said to be effectively the same as its sibling. The FATF Travel Rule is being rolled out now.
In September 2019, Binance.US began accepting account registration and as well as accepting deposits of BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, LTC, and USDT. Since September, Binance.US has continued to offer additional features and services including an OTC Market and staking while boosting its compliance regime.
On a global basis, Binance appears to be seeking global domination when it comes to the digital asset ecosystem. The recent purchase of CoinMarketCap, for a mere $400 million, foreshadows a grander ambition where Binance strives to provide a full stack of digital asset services, including trading, to anyone anywhere.
Regarding Binance.US, this digital asset exchange faces some well-established platforms like Coinbase – an operation that has a solid pipe to federal and state regulators as well as solid domestic mind-share.
But even while Binance.US is battling the competition, the opportunity remains as only about 6 percent of US investors own Bitcoin. Binance.US believes that around 200 million people have written off Bitcoin “before they’ve even given it a chance.”
To help encourage crypto investors in the US, Binance.US recently touted lower fees and cashback opportunities in the different states where the exchange currently operates. This week, trading fees were cut in half to “celebrate” the Bitcoin halving.
To help guide the exchange in a competitive market, Binance.US hired Catherine Coley as CEO to lead the North American operation. Cole was previously at Ripple where she was Head of XRP Institutional Liquidity. She has also completed stints at both Morgan Stanley and Silicon Valley Bank – so she has the tool kit to understand both old finance and new.
Recently, Crowdfund Insider connected with Coley.
Read the full interview on Crowdfund Insider: