20h05 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.
Summarize this article with:
Binance plans to expand its offer to stocks from Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Brazil, while Binance.US would seek to raise up to 100 million dollars. These distinct projects illustrate the same strategy: going beyond the crypto market alone to build multi-asset financial platforms.
In brief
- Binance.US would seek a 100 million dollar fundraising, with a valuation close to one billion dollars.
- Binance is studying the addition of stocks listed in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Brazil.
- The global platform already develops its offer of tokenized stocks and ETFs in certain jurisdictions.
- Both companies seek to diversify their activities to reduce their dependence on the crypto market.
- These projects remain subject to regulatory constraints and necessary authorizations in each country.
Binance.US would target a valuation of one billion dollars
Binance.US is seeking to strengthen its activities against competition from Coinbase, Kraken and traditional financial platforms. According to information, the company is preparing a private funding round whose conditions remain subject to change.
The key points reported are as follows :
- The fundraising could reach 100 million dollars ;
- Binance.US would target a valuation close to one billion dollars ;
- No investor participating in the operation has yet been officially announced ;
- World Liberty Financial has been informed of the project but is not expected to invest ;
- Binance.US has not publicly confirmed the terms of the operation.
The envisioned valuation would represent a sharp decline compared to the previous financing. In 2022, Binance.US raised more than 200 million dollars based on a pre-investment valuation of 4.5 billion. The new potential amount would therefore reflect a discount of about 78%.
This contraction reflects the difficulties encountered after the agreement reached in 2023 between Binance Holdings and US authorities. The global platform then agreed to more than 4.3 billion dollars in penalties. Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, before serving four months in prison.
Binance.US operates as a legally distinct entity from the international platform, even if CZ remains a significant shareholder of both structures. The American company is now seeking to recover certain suspended money transfer licenses in several states and is exploring new activities, including predictive markets.
Binance wants to add more international stocks
The global platform is exploring, on its side, adding shares of major listed companies in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Brazil. Richard Teng, co-CEO of Binance, presented this track as a response to user demands.
He explained:
Many of our users say they want exposure, for example, to the top ten stocks in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, or Brazil. We examine what our users ask for and offer it to them.
This statement describes an ongoing reflection, not a confirmed launch. Binance has given no timeline, no list of securities, nor regulatory structure for these new markets. Access will also depend on the client’s country of residence and obtained authorizations.
The company already offers American stocks and ETFs in certain jurisdictions. In Brazil, eligible users can buy more than 7,000 securities listed in the United States starting at 5 dollars, through Sim;paul and the brokerage firm Alpaca. Settlements are made in USDC.
Binance also launched its bStocks in June, tokenized representations of American stocks and ETFs. The company claims these products have surpassed one billion dollars in assets in four months and generated over 40 billion dollars in cumulative volume. These figures however come from Binance and should be distinguished from audited financial data.
bStocks are not accessible everywhere. Their offer is notably based on a prospectus approved in the Abu Dhabi Global Market and remains limited to authorized users in eligible jurisdictions.
Two strategies to become multi-asset platforms
Binance’s and Binance.US’s projects converge towards a model already adopted by several competitors: grouping cryptocurrencies, stocks, derivatives and predictive markets in a single application. Coinbase notably strengthened its offer of stocks and financial products, while OKX also develops tokenized securities.
This diversification allows platforms to reduce their dependence on commissions from cryptocurrency trades. When bitcoin falls or volatility decreases, trading activity can slow down sharply. Stocks offer a larger market and potentially less cyclical revenues.
Richard Teng states that Binance seeks thus to better resist different cycles: “we protect ourselves against bad weather”. He also presents tokenization as a way to open global markets to investors who do not have a traditional broker.
This promise comes with constraints. A tokenized share does not always confer the same rights as a directly held share. Its liquidity, legal framework, voting rights, and conversion possibilities depend on the issuer and jurisdiction.
The fundraising of Binance.US and Binance’s international expansion remain therefore two separate projects. Their common point lies in the desire to transform crypto exchanges into broader financial infrastructures, subject to obtaining the necessary authorizations.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.