Binance is a Chinese-based exchange founded in 2017 by (current CEO) Changpeng Zhao. The exchange supports a wide variety of coins (140+), and since early 2018 is considered the largest exchange in terms of trading volume, although it has been accused of inflating it in order to climb CoinMarketCap’s list.
Binance moved its offices from China to Japan in order to avoid the government’s crypto-trading ban, and later to Malta – where it is now based – due to further restrictions in Japan. Behind the scenes, the team is composed of an estimated 250-500 employees from over 39 countries, led by an experienced CEO, who worked for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Bloomberg, etc. and various cryptocurrency projects.
The exchange has been hacked before and with no insurance, the capital is at risk. Trading fees start at 0.1% but lower the more you trade, especially if the exchange’s token BNB is used. Speaking of which, BNB runs natively on the Ethereum blockchain and follows the ERC20 token standard. Its value grew steadily over the last year, mostly thanks to its Buyback & Burn system, where 20% of Binance’s profits are each quarter dedicated to buying back BNB and destroying them. This will continue until eventually 50% of all BNBs in existence are destroyed, lowering the supply of BNB while demand continues to rise.
Since its foundation, Binance has expanded it’s ecosystem with:
- Binance LABS: “an initiative to incubate, invest, and empower blockchain and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, projects, and communities.”;
- Binance Launchpad: a token launch platform for transformative projects;
- Binance Info: a cryptocurrency information platform;
- Binance Uganda: Binance’s first fiat-to-crypto exchange; and
- BCF: Binance’s Blockchain Charity Foundation.
and with more major developments on the way soon such as:
- Binance Academy (which will provide Blockchain and crypto education); and
- Binance Research.
Binance also plans to to have two fiat-to-crypto exchanges on every continent, and although they are built on Binance’s technology will be formed as a separate legal entity. Singapore, Malta, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Argentina, Russia, Turkey and Bermuda are all planned to join current Uganda and Jersey Binance’s fiat to crypto exchanges.
Overall, a review of Binance shows a well-established and trusted exchange, which became among the largest only within a year from its foundation, and with plans for expansion it will likely grow even more in upcoming years.
Additional reading materials:
https://www.binance.com/en/blog/303459928086564864/Binance-Review%E2%80%8A-%E2%80%8AMonth-19
https://www.cointelligence.com/exchanges_list/binance/
https://en.bitcoinwiki.org/wiki/Binance_Coin